A veritable free-for-all occurred all across America this week as several states, businesses, and recreational facilities reopened for business.
Current Events
On Monday, the governors of Arkansas, Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, and Oklahoma set off a free-for-all by deciding that despite 1.1 million COVID-19 cases and more than 55,000 deaths in America (with that number growing by the day), it was better to grant citizens nice hairdo’s and manicured nails than to save their lives. Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia got the party started last Friday, while the other states followed suit and allowed barber shops, beauty shops, nail salons, bowling alleys, beaches, and other “essential” businesses to reopen and act as if the coronavirus never even existed.
Interestingly, the free-for-all extended beyond just the GOP red states that followed King Donald Trump’s lead.
In Colorado, several barbershops across the state saw businesses in other states reopening and decided to play “Monkey See, Monkey Do!” by defying state stay-at-home orders and going back to business as usual.
“I’m not a person that will live in fear and I speak for myself. I know my team is not a team that will live in fear either,” said Jose Oregel, owner of The Bar.Ber.Shop in Greeley.
When CNN’s Gary Tuchman asked a young, white, male customer why he wasn’t wearing a mask while in the barber’s chair, the young man said he didn’t need one because he’s not in any of the “high-risk” groups.
“Sometimes I think about stopping and showing them one of the empty body bags I have in the trunk. ‘You might end up here. Is that worth it for a haircut or a hamburger?’” – Michael Fowler, Coroner of Georgia
In California, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom was livid after seeing images of throngs of crowds on Ventura and Orange County beaches this past weekend amid a west coast heatwave.
“I cannot impress upon you more, to those Californians watching, that we can’t see the images like we saw, particularly on Saturday in Newport Beach and elsewhere, in the state of California,” the governor said. “Those images are an example of what not to see, people, what not to do if we’re going to make the meaningful progress that we’ve made in the last few weeks extend into the next number of weeks.”
Officials in Georgia joined Atlanta’s Mayor Kecia Lance Bottoms in denouncing the reopening of various “vanity” businesses in the Peach State.
“Sometimes I think about stopping and showing them one of the empty body bags I have in the trunk. ‘You might end up here. Is that worth it for a haircut or a hamburger?'” Georgia coroner Michael Fowler said.
Naturally, Americans are stir-crazy from 40+ days of stay-at-home orders all across the country. However, there’s something vitally important those who are taking to the streets as if a deadly virus is not still actively killing people by the day are not realizing: no one has the power to simply wish the virus away, no matter how hard they try. In the words of Dr. Anthony Fauci, “The VIRUS will decide when it’s time to reopen.”
So, for all those who broke their necks to participate in this week’s free-for-all reopening of various businesses across the country, their hair and nails are going to look fabulous once they’re in a medically-induced coma with a ventilator tube down their throat, or worse, in a casket.
“Sometimes I think about stopping and showing them one of the empty body bags I have in the trunk. ‘You might end up here. Is that worth it for a haircut or a hamburger?’” – Georgia coroner, Michael Fowler
Unfortunately, I believe -for many if nor most of those people- seeing empty body-bags would have little-to no effect at all.
They say “a picture is worth a thousand words.” That picture above -showing throngs of Americans mindlessly frolicking about on a crowded beach in the middle of deadly viral pandemic -tells you all you need to know about a certain population of Americans – people who truly do NOT give a d*mn about anything or anyone, including themselves or their loved-ones.
The coming weeks will give Us a clearer picture of the actual size of that American population.