Burning Sensation

 "Absolutely reckless and selfish." That was how San Francisco's mayor described the quasi-Burning Man gathering on Ocean Beach over the Labor Day weekend. Apparently die-hard fans of the festival traditionally held in the desert in Black Rock Nevada didn't get the memo about the cancellation of the annual bacchanalia. Over a thousand people crowded the beach to let their freak flags collectively fly to celebrate what would have been the thirty-fourth year of the combustible celebration. Loud music, flashing lights and plenty of bonfires were to be had in spite of the fact that California is mostly on fire elsewhere. Social distancing was an afterthought as revelers ignored both the Spare The Air alert and the global pandemic that gave organizers the notion of cancelling the show in the first place. 

Meanwhile, out in the desert, Nevada officials said they would allow campers to hang out over the weekend as long as they followed guidelines created to keep themselves and anyone they might contact before during and after safe. I guess they're not so uptight out in Black Rock. 

Or maybe this is why, some seven to eight months after COVID-19 first began to rage, American society continues to struggle with the idea of a highly contagious virus that kills people. "Not me," says the inevitable victim just before they are struck down in some absurd whiff of irony. Mothers across the planet know the phrase, "It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt." I would amend this slightly to say "It's all cool and groovy until your new best friend is hooked up to a ventilator." Last week, the first of what will undoubtedly not be the last death associated with the gathering of motorcycle enthusiasts in Sturgis, South Dakota. That death was accompanied by the inevitable spike in cases of the virus across the Midwest. 

Viruses don't play favorites. They don't have party affiliations. They don't care that it's the thirty-fourth anniversary of a bunch of hedonists gathering to test their campfire making skills. Sending more smoke into the air as an afterthought simply screams how selfish and reckless humans can be regardless of their affiliations or predilections. I understand that many Americans are under the impression that it is their Constitutional Right to wander the aisles of Wal-Mart without a mask, or that tripping wildly on public beaches while effigies ignite is protected by the Declaration of Independence. 

These assertions are not true. If we hang together, without masks or social distancing, we will most certainly hang from a respirator separately. Weddings are being postponed. Funerals are being cancelled. Make good choices so we all have a chance to make them later. Bacchanalia will be put on hold for the time being. Thank you for your cooperation.