The good of the Many
What a roller coaster. Every day in the last few weeks has brought new data sets, new restrictions and plenty of reactions to those restrictions. The first step was closing stores and services that bought people in close contact - like gyms and movie theaters and such. I’ll admit, I was a little annoyed when the pool closed! I’m not swimming for competition anymore, but I do love the active recovery provided by time in the water. Next thought was to get my new tattoo while the pools were closed. I want to get a dragonfly and a butterfly on my ribs and back. Well.... that was the next thing! So much for using my time out of the water wisely. And then, as various counties around the state issued stay at home orders the governor finally followed suite. The entire state of Colorado placed under a stay at home order - try not to leave the house unless it’s for essential business.
That’s where it gets tricky. Denver originally didn’t include some stores in the essential order and there were lines around the block of people stocking up. Not a good way to encourage social distancing! But the list of things that are essential is rather long - and sometimes up to interpretation. And people are looking for the most flexible ways of interpreting the order. I’m allowed to go out for a run or a bike ride, right? I can drive to do that right? So why not drive across the state to ride? Or host my group ride, making jokes about social distancing the entire time. After all, we all drove separately down from Denver, it’s cool right? No... Or every single person who has decided that now is the time to start hiking. I know that it sounds elitist when we complain about the increased volume, but seriously. Some of the people I’ve been seeing out hiking would be much better served with a walk around the block, then building up to two laps around the block - not heading down one of the steeper trails in Stratton because “look, there’s a trail!” The sheer volume of people out and about is amazing - but at the same time the roads are definitely quieter.
Maybe I’m a little more sensitive to the people bending the rules and looking for specific ways to bend the rules because I’m a hospital. And its a strange environment right now. We’ve canceled all elective surgeries, so the place is eerily quiet. There’s not a lot of patients and even fewer for physical therapy to be working with. But there’s also a sense of unease. That something is coming and we don’t know what or how bad. Actually, we do know what - we’ve seen the previews in other countries and other cities. The lingering questions - are we doing enough? Did we do it soon enough? And why the hell can’t people just STAY HOME? There’s nothing to do. You don’t need to go to Target to peruse everything just because it’s open. The people making a mockery of the stay at home are frustrating - even more so when you read the “gubermint is taking muh rights” kind of posts on facebook or other social media sites.
Stay at home. It's really not that hard. It's not the time to start looking for new adventures. It's the time to start taking care of yourself and your family. Whatever that means to you.
That’s where it gets tricky. Denver originally didn’t include some stores in the essential order and there were lines around the block of people stocking up. Not a good way to encourage social distancing! But the list of things that are essential is rather long - and sometimes up to interpretation. And people are looking for the most flexible ways of interpreting the order. I’m allowed to go out for a run or a bike ride, right? I can drive to do that right? So why not drive across the state to ride? Or host my group ride, making jokes about social distancing the entire time. After all, we all drove separately down from Denver, it’s cool right? No... Or every single person who has decided that now is the time to start hiking. I know that it sounds elitist when we complain about the increased volume, but seriously. Some of the people I’ve been seeing out hiking would be much better served with a walk around the block, then building up to two laps around the block - not heading down one of the steeper trails in Stratton because “look, there’s a trail!” The sheer volume of people out and about is amazing - but at the same time the roads are definitely quieter.
Maybe I’m a little more sensitive to the people bending the rules and looking for specific ways to bend the rules because I’m a hospital. And its a strange environment right now. We’ve canceled all elective surgeries, so the place is eerily quiet. There’s not a lot of patients and even fewer for physical therapy to be working with. But there’s also a sense of unease. That something is coming and we don’t know what or how bad. Actually, we do know what - we’ve seen the previews in other countries and other cities. The lingering questions - are we doing enough? Did we do it soon enough? And why the hell can’t people just STAY HOME? There’s nothing to do. You don’t need to go to Target to peruse everything just because it’s open. The people making a mockery of the stay at home are frustrating - even more so when you read the “gubermint is taking muh rights” kind of posts on facebook or other social media sites.
Stay at home. It's really not that hard. It's not the time to start looking for new adventures. It's the time to start taking care of yourself and your family. Whatever that means to you.
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