WWHMD?

 Just thought I'd pop in here and remind y'all that there is a global pandemic. Yes, that's right. It did not just go away as so many "experts" had predicted. People across the globe are still dying. By the thousands. From the disease. 

Not from the vaccinations. In case there was a question about that. Turns out they're pretty effective. Like in the ninety-five percent range. So, if you're on the fence about this vaccination thing, remember that the government is giving them away for free. Free medicine. Think about that for a moment, and consider how much you paid for that last prescription. I wonder how many people who have chosen not to get their shot chose not to cash their stimulus check. 

I'm also wondering how much furor we will have to endure once school begins again about masks. Currently California has issued a mask mandate, maskdate, for the coming school year. Already there are parent groups and concerned "patriots" up in arms about what goes over their children's faces. A group in San Diego called "Let Them Breathe" is suing the state saying that it should be a choice for families and not an order from the government. I wonder how many of these folks are all about choice when it comes to the government's oversight on women's reproductive rights. And how many of them cashed their stimulus check. 

What would Horace Mann do? Horace Mann was the father of public education in this country, and it seems as though he might have some wisdom to clear up this confusion. How about this one: "Education is our only political safety. Outside of this ark all is deluge." This provides a nice complement, I think, to the lesson of Maslow's hierarchy of needs which teaches us that learning takes place only once a student feels they are in a safe environment. Wearing a mask seems like a pretty easy path to get that. And if you can avoid having crowds of sign-carrying, shouting parents outside insisting that they know best what is safe and what is not, that would probably help a lot too.

The pandemic is not over. The virus did not go away. But we are clever monkeys and we will figure out what we need to do in order to stay alive. 

The clever ones, anyway.