What I Worry About (itty bitty thoughts)
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I’m not against “rules” per se.
I just think most “rules” for how people should behave
shouldn’t need to be explained.
You don’t fill a car with kids and then drive around drunk.
You don’t stab your neighbor because they didn’t mow their grass.
You don’t take stuff that doesn’t belong to you.
But lately, the rules don’t make sense.
People get angry when they don’t like the rules.
But I’ve seen what makes them angrier:
when rules seem random.
Or only apply to half.
Or change on a dime.
Yesterday, a bunch of stuff
was closed down in our state again
for another 4 weeks.
And I get it.
I understand shutdowns if they work.
I don’t understand shutdowns
that are pick-and-choose,
dart-at-a-board,
random 30 people gathering here is okay
but 6 people gathering here isn’t.
I don’t understand how I can walk through this door to this business
but the door at this other business is locked.
But that’s not what I worry about.
I understand quarantining people who are sick.
I don’t understand the nowhere-near-across-the-board determination
of who is allowed to go back to work if they’ve been “exposed”.
I have family members and friends who work in grocery stores.
Law enforcement.
Clinics.
Trucking.
And stuff just doesn’t make sense when stories are compared.
If the disease is horrible,
it’s horrible to everyone,
everywhere
all the time.
It doesn’t get less horrible
because you’re short staffed.
It doesn’t get less horrible because you were
in a crowd of angry people.
It doesn’t get less horrible
because you were only with someone
for 12 minutes,
not 15.
But that’s not what I worry about.
I stay busy
while I grind my teeth
and bake another pie.
They say this new version of lockdown
will be lifted by Christmas.
I don’t believe that.
Not even for a half second.
But that’s not what I worry about.
The real problem in
all of this mess is that
there is so much stuff
that falls between the cracks.
Forgotten.
People.
Real live human beings
who fall between the cracks.
And for as many people who have vowed
to stay healthy in the midst of this
eat well
exercise
stay positive
there are just as many
(more?)
who have said
or
will say
Eff it.
And that’s what I worry about most.
— Amy Dingmann 11/19/20
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This is what I worry about, too. What I’ve been worrying about from the start. But I’m told I’m just selfish.
So much of it makes no sense at all. But then, if you believe common sense has been relegated to the no longer applicable past along with critical thinking and self-responsibility, you can understand why we are in the mess we are today.
I think this year has really uncovered a lot about systems. About how systems fail us, about how systems breakdown, about how they are perceived or viewed with suspicion.
Its uncovered a lot about people too and who we are when things happen.
Amy, I’m missing your podcasts! I soooo enjoy listening to them. I totally understand if you need to take a break from it all though. I just want you to know you are amazing and inspiring! Now just to double check…..you last episode was in September, right? I’m not accidentally missing something!?
Uh oh! What was the last episode you heard? I’m at episode 113. I did skip last week because it was butchering time on the farm, but I have definitely been recording through October and November (except last week.) You can check what episodes you might have missed here: https://afarmishkindoflife.com/farmish-podcast/
I feel exactly the same and worry about it too (and I pray a lot!)
I have been worried since March. Not about dying but about all the unintended consequences of all the rules that make no sense to me…especially for the little ones who are being conditioned to be afraid of hugging or seeing a face. This is not normal nor is it a new normal. It is abnormal. This is what I worry about.