Day 2,656 —Same White Shirt—with a PICTURE of a FIRE STATION

I looked at the shirt and tried to remember when I had bought it. It must have been close to a dozen years ago. Not many of my shorts have lasted half as long but a shirt can last. It is slightly frayed now and feels a little heavier than it should be, but it still works. 

I was up before 5 a.m., which felt good to be back on the right track to reclaim my routine. I don’t know when I will want to start getting up when I get into full swing of things. I probably should get into the office as soon as I can to try to prioritize my work before the day distracts me. 

New mask mandate in St. Louis that has already had some major push back. Even though we are experiencing rapid uncheck spread in St. Louis and are one of a handful of states deemed to be in the red zone nobody wants to wear a mask. 

I watch interviews of people dying of covid adamantly refusing to consider being vaccinated if they recover. I don’t know what to say anymore. I don’t understand why wearing a mask or getting vaccinated is worse than death for some people. And if they were only affecting themselves, it would be one thing, but these individuals feel they have a right to cause other people to get sick and die. Why do some people feel like their “freedom,” is more important than someone else’s life?

We have done a lot as a nation to reinforce that belief. We have a supreme court who has legally allowed states to rewrite maps, to give some individuals more power than others through approving gerrymandering. I ask conservatives about this, and they just smile. They think this shows how clever they are.  

I used to be naïve enough to assume that most people thought cheating was bad, but not when it helps them it seems. When it helps them, it is not cheating but “strategy.”

I don’t blame anyone or judge anyone for feeling how they do on this issue. I do think everyone has a responsibility to be accountable for their actions and change when what they are doing is knowingly causing harm on others, but when people think it is their right to do so? I don’t know what to say. How can it be anyone’s “right,” to cause death and sickness to others?