Five Things With Which You May Have Adjusted Your Attitude in Lockdown
No Me Digas. Op-Ed: Keith Price
Throughout this past year of isolation from most of the world and dealing with unemployment and the constant search for work, I have been truly blessed to have some of the most amazing friends and family who in their own ways have helped me stay sane and keep my head above water throughout this process. Be it with a meal, a helping hand virtually with projects, or straight-up cash, I am still here because of them. For many, I am sure that your relationships with friends and family have been taxed and challenged, but hopefully, this pandemic has made you re-evaluate them, one way or another. With a vaccine, a change of administration, and a consistent guideline to a pandemic, we might get to fellowship again with our genetic and chosen families.
You have to admit that we have all experienced some sort of growth. As we get closer to the anniversary of being locked down in a pandemic that has cost us over a half of a million American lives, countless numbers of jobs, all while sitting in a pit of despair, there are definitely FIVE things of which many might agree they may have had an attitude adjustment.
5. Race Relations in America:
We can agree that since the beginning of the pandemic, we have spent more time in front of CNN, MSNBC, and FOX (for shits and giggles) to stay in touch with what has been happening. Race relations really began to take a new focus starting with the peaceful protest of Colin Kapernick and his bent knee. Following the increase in documented deaths of black men and women at the hands of mostly white police officers or simply just racist white civilians, people are aware. It then became peaceful marches being harassed by some armed protesters crashing the party.
We saw consistent actions of civil disobedience exploding throughout the nation since the murder of George Floyd, and simultaneously we have seen so many moments of BBQ Beckies and Poolside Pamelas raining on black and brown people’s day. Central Park Karen, who was filmed calling the police on an unarmed black man while falsely claiming that she was being threatened, has had charges dropped against her. According to her attorney, there may be some legal fallout for those who were quick to judge her circumstances. Say what? Her incident was on the same day as the George Floyd murder. She is walking away from her transgression, while we are still awaiting justice for Mr. Floyd Breonna Taylor, and the list continues to grow. I am going to assume that you knew that, already.
4. Faith and Religion:
It’s insane to think that while we were in the middle of a pandemic (pestilence equivalent), there were fires raging in the west. By the end of the hurricane season, we had surpassed all of the conventional names in the alphabet and crossed into several Greek letters to name them. Add the ongoing and increasing acts of civil unrest leading up to the Capitol insurgence, these times are troubling. Many people have been talking about the Book of Revelations throughout this past year. After witnessing things like Zombie Storms, has it forced you to either reconnect with their religious upbringing, found some new spirituality with a zen state, or are still spinning?
I recently did an interview with Dr. Jacqui Lewis of Middle Church, and we talked about how one can strengthen one’s spirit throughout these hard times, and she said something that stayed with me. Am paraphrasing her, but when she is not feeling strong, someone else in her community becomes strong. The problem gets faced and handled somehow because that is what makes a great community. This pandemic is making people ask many of those who eat, pray, and love kind of questions for themselves because they are lonely, frustrated, or sad. I know that my sinning behind might have called upon the name of Jesus several times during the year of the pandemic, and the folks in my community found ways to be strong for me when I could not. And according to Rev. Lewis, you can go to either a church ( or a synagogue) in your pajamas, so there is no excuse. If that is for what you are searching for, then the first step is admitting that you are searching for something.
3. Limits of Personal Hygiene:
Okay, let us all be honest. How long did you go before you realized that you and/or your partner/family cannot take it and you must shower, shave, and possibly change those pajamas/sweats? Do not pretend that you did not test those limits of human existence. I don’t want to know yours and I am not telling you mine, but I REFUSE to believe that no one at least tried. Next!
2. New Respect for Our Teachers and Schools:
I felt so bad during this pandemic for the teachers that love their jobs and the students that love school for any and every reason. Because for many of us school was a Godsend. And because God has a sense of humor, many parents have now discovered that as adorable as they make people believe their kids are, they now have the information that many of their teachers have known for years: their little darlings are actually little assholes. I am not going to pretend that I have not been secretly doing a jig throughout this pandemic over the fact that I am not a parent. If I had school-age kids at this point in my life during these quarantine times, then I would be pulling out my hair, and I am already bald.
I will always remember one of my favorite teachers told me many years after high school, how she hated having to deal with some of the parents because they really expected her to do everything for their little darlings. I went to public school, but we also had a fair share of entitled kids with parents holding MANY advanced degrees. They would berate and condescend to her in parent-teacher conferences. They expected her to not only maintain a challenging syllabus, teach an already crowded honors class but in addition to her other 4 classes, cafeteria duty, parent-teacher conferences, grading homework, giving tests, etcetera, these parents ALSO wanted her to find inspiring ways to challenge their Harvard-bound darlings, too. Imagine being a Texas teacher during the ’80s, dealing with all of that madness with that pay?
You can deduce from those parental demands that these kids were not always the most well-behaved ones from many of the right families. Now that they are at home with their kids and having to participate in EVERY little thing he/she/they has to do, as well as participate in educating their progeny, I know that many will be showing up with more than apples when the little darlings are in school all day again.
1. Politics and Civics Knowledge Has Increased:
As far as Politics and Civics are concerned, no one can say that they have not spent the year watching how our elected officials behave in their jobs. We have seen how power is wielded with the Speaker of the House of Representatives and Senate Majority Leader. If we were not already hip to how a bill becomes a law from Schoolhouse Rock, then trying to get pandemic relief in America certainly gives us the best lesson possible. How many of us can almost have a decent conversation about judicial appointments with a hint of certainty? How many of us felt secure in our high school civics knowledge and then gobsmacked when we found out there is a Department of General Services that handles the bureaucracy for the transition of power? Now you know.
How much do you think most Americans know about the impeachment process today? There have been 2 in just the last 14 months alone. Now, even the most misinformed Americans cannot say that they have at least not heard the word “impeachment”. Yes, I see that as improvement, and at the same time, I do not expect them may not show up as a contestant on Jeopardy. You must admit that even with the amount of misinformation that has already been distributed, more people are starting to see the behavior of politicians, like Ted Cruz and his Cancun Caper, along with talk about election tampering, voter intimidation, suppression, and fraud, causing many to start valuing their civic duty in a way that seems unprecedented. Considering the legislation that many Republican-led states are trying to pass to interfere with the voting privilege, people on both sides of the issue are paying attention.
Wear a mask. Wash your hands. Stay Distanced.
