Heartstrings
Heartstrings's JournalBest damn synopsis of 2020 EVER (or at least for now...we still have 6 months left 😬😩🤦🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️)!
Dear Diary 2020 Edition,
In January, Australia caught on fire. I don’t even know if that fire was put out, because we straight up almost went to war with Iran. We might actually still be almost at war with them. I don’t know, because Jen Aniston and Brad Pitt spoke to one another at an awards show and everyone flipped the f--- out, but then there was thing happening in China, then Prince Harry and Megan peaced out of the Royal family, and there was the whole impeachment trial, and then corona virus showed up in the US “officially,” but then Kobe died and UK peaced out of the European Union.
In February, Iowa crapped itself with the caucus results and the president was acquitted and the Speaker of the House took ten years to rip up a speech, but then WHO decided to give this virus a name COVID-19, which confused some really important people in charge of, like, our lives, into thinking there were 18 other versions before it, but then Harvey Weinstein was found guilty, and Americans started asking if Corona beer was safe to drink, and everyone on Facebook became a doctor who just knew the flu like killed way more people than COVID 1 through 18.
In March, shit hit the fan. Warren dropped out of the presidential race and Sanders was like Bernie or bust, but then Italy shut its whole ass down, and then COVID Not 1 through 18 officially become what everyone already realized, a pandemic and then a nationwide state of emergency was declared in US, but it didn’t really change anything, so everyone was confused or thought it was still just a flu, but then COVID Not 18 was like ya’ll not taking me seriously? I’m gonna infect the one celebrity everyone loves and totally infected Tom Hanks, but then the DOW took a shit on itself, and most of us still don’t understand why the stock market is so important or even a thing (I still don’t), but then we were all introduced to Tiger King. (Carol totally killed her husband), and Netflix was like you’re welcome, and we all realized there was no way we were washing our hands enough in the first place because all of our hands are now dry and gross.
In April, Bernie finally busted himself out of the presidential race, but then NYC became the set of The Walking Dead and we learned that no one has face masks, ventilators, or toilet paper, or THE FREAKING SWIFFER WET JET LIQUID, but then Kim Jong-Un died, but then he came back to life… or did he? Who knows, because then the Pentagon released videos of UFOs and nobody cared, and we were like man, it’s only April….
In May, the biblical end times kicked off historical locust swarms and then we learned of murder hornets and realized that 2020 was the start of the Hunger Games but people forgot to let us know, but then people legit protested lockdown measures with AR-15s, and then sports events were cancelled everywhere. But then people all over America finally reached a breaking point with race issues and violence. There were protests in every city, but then people forgot about the pandemic called COVID Not One Through 18. Media struggled with how to focus on two important things at once, but then people in general struggle to focus on more than one important thing, and a dead whale was found in the middle of the Amazon rain forest after monkeys stole COVID 1 Through 19 from a lab and ran off with them, and either in May or April (no one is keeping track of time now) that a giant asteroid narrowly missed Earth.
In June, science and common sense just got thrown straight out the window and somehow wearing masks became a political thing, but then a whole lot of people realized the south was actually the most unpatriotic thing ever and actually lost the civil war, and there are a large amount of people who feel that statues they don’t even know the name of are needed for … history reasons..... but then everyone sort of remembered there was a pandemic, but then decided that not wearing a mask was somehow a God given right (still haven't found that part in the bible or even in the constitution), but then scientists announced they found a mysterious undiscovered mass at the center of the earth, and everyone was like DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH IT, but then everyone took a pause to realize that people actually believed Gone With The Wind was like non-fiction, but then it was also announced that there is a strange radio single coming from somewhere in the universe that repeats itself every so many days, and everyone was like DON’T YOU DARE ATTEMPT TO COMMUNICATE WITH IT, but then America reopened from the shut down that actually wasn’t even a shut down, and so far, things have gone spectacularly not that great, but everyone is on Facebook arguing that masks kill because no one knows how breathing works, but then Florida was like hold my beer and let me show you how we’re number one in all things, including new Not Corona Beer Corona Virus. Trump decides now is a good time to ask the Supreme Court to shut down Obama Care because what better time to do so than in the middle of a pandemic, but then we learned there was a massive dust cloud coming straight at us from the Sahara Desert, which is totally normal, but this is 2020, so the ghost mummy thing is most likely in that dust cloud, but then I learned of meth-gators, and I'm like that is so not on my f-ing 2020 Bingo card, but then we learned that the Congo's worse ever Ebola outbreak is over, and we were all like, there was an Ebola outbreak that was the worse ever?
In July…. Aliens? Zeus? Asteroids? Artificial Intelligence becomes self aware?
Thanks to whoever started this for the copy and paste.
I have no idea who wrote this; and damn it, I want to know.
Also, why didn't I know about the whale in the Amazon?
Dane County issues tighter restrictions effective tomorrow
We go from 50% capacity down to 25% due to uptick in cases, thanks to all those who won’t wear a mask!
https://www.channel3000.com/dane-county-issues-new-order-limiting-gatherings-bar-restaurant-activity/
A teachers view on public schools opening here in WI....
Dear everyone,
I just need to get on my soapbox for a moment. I never do this, so you can tolerate it. And if you don’t want to...keep scrolling. ***here is your chance to move on in your feed****
Last week, the state released its guidelines for school in the fall, and people lost their minds. As a teacher and a person who researches things heavily, here are some things you need to know:
1. The guidelines are just that. GUIDELINES. They are not mandates. The media got ahold of the 85 pages of material released by the DPI and reported some extreme scenarios. Before you flip, please take a moment to breathe. No district has to follow all 85 pages of suggestions. Some districts legitimately cannot. There are multiple plans in those pages. Some might work for one district, but not another. No district is taking those guidelines lightly. They are trying every possible way to make a plan that makes sense. They are being challenged to do what is best for ALL students. Not what simply happens to be convenient for your child. That doesn’t mean we don’t value you or your opinion. It needs to be remembered that public schools have to provide a free and a SAFE environment for ALL. While your child may be low risk, and your family may be low risk, not every child and family lives that reality. And sadly, we have to go for safe, not convenient. We have kids with health issues, or that live with elderly grandparents, or infants in the home that they can carry germs to. How would you feel if you spread something to them?
2. Your teachers want to go back to school like normal just as much as you do. I have met exactly 0 teachers that want to go back to online teaching. We weren’t sitting at home in our pajamas doing nothing from March-June. We were sitting at home in our pajamas literally inventing a whole new thing, answering emails all night, staring at a computer nonstop and getting headaches and driving papers to houses and trying everything short of messenger pigeons to keep in contact with our students. We were worried sick about our kids getting enough food, or not being with safe parents. Most of us spent more hours working at home than we did in normal school. If we can’t go back to school normal, it isn’t because we don’t want to.
3. Today our country officially “unflattened” the curve. This virus is not gone. This virus is now heavily effecting MY age group. “But that is because 20-39 year olds are going to packed bars.” Perhaps... but if we go back to school like normal, I’ll be in a small windowless room with 30 other people. Given the square footage of my classroom, it would have to be similar to a bar as far as exposure levels. Hmmm...Now consider one child gets sick in my classroom, and perhaps we choose a model where teachers rotate to different classrooms to lessen the amount of students in the hallway. Now 4 teachers have rotated through that one room with the sick kid. If the school follows the health department protocol which says 5 minutes of exposure to a sick person means you should enter self quarantine...that means that one class plus all four teachers should be sent home for two weeks. Now what is the plan? Find four subs? Good luck. And can we trust the subs to know that Bobby is a nose picker and we need to monitor extra where he touches, and Johnny chews on things so we need to watch him, and will the sub sanitize the hand sanitizer like I do? Will the sub know to watch Susie because she has anxiety and Covid makes her extra tense? And if I’m sick myself with covid, will I be able to write lesson plans?!!! And do I now do double because I need to create online work for my fellow quarantined kids? Keep in mind, this is just one scenario where I am pointing out the flaws. I am a low risk, healthy woman with 0+ blood. What about my high-risk co-workers? All over the state, people are sitting on committees seeing all these dead ends. It is mind boggling.
So you want normal? Again, so do I. However, the reality is, no matter what, it won’t be normal. Maybe we will be trying to figure out how to make things less risky. Students will be kept apart. We will be sanitizing. We will be encouraging masks. Or maybe we will start online. Or maybe we will try normal and then need to go online. Just please, please, please be ready to adapt like your teachers. And stop worrying so much about your kids! (I know that sounds heartless, but hear me out.) I may not have children of my own, but I have been a teacher for 8 years, and worked in a classroom or childcare for 5 years before that, and the resilience of children is INCREDIBLE. We could learn a thing or two about how they go with the flow and adapt to change. And remember, kids take on the attitude of the adults in their life. If you are positive, they will be too. As a teacher, we leave our feelings at the door every day to try to keep things normal for our students. We might be going through a personal crisis, but for some kids, school is their only safe place, and we are trying to keep it that way. Parents can practice this at home too when it comes to the school situation. And if we do have to go online, not matter how much we hate it, we aren’t going to tell the kids that!!! It’s called professionalism.
***Do you want to have a better chance of going back to normal, or back to normal faster?***
WEAR A MASK. (Unless you have a health or sensory reason that makes this impossible.) It is annoying. I hate it. It muffles my voice. My students won’t see my smile. It makes my makeup melt off. But I can’t ignore the studies showing how many particles a typical human emits talking loudly for 10 minutes. My job is to talk loudly for a whole day. It is also my job to keep your kids safe. Just like I have a plan for protecting your child from a shooter, I am now making plans for how to protect them from a virus, even if it will annoy me. I realize that I can pass the virus without showing symptoms. Start having your kids practice wearing a mask for small periods of time at home or during trips in public. Even young kids can handle wearing one in small time intervals, and I’ll take even that if it means keeping others healthy a few minutes longer. Pick out some cute fabric. Make it fun. And if somehow we find out a mask was useless (which it isn’t. There are many, many studies about this.) the worst that will happen is that you will have been slightly inconvenienced for a few months. Guess what? Lots of kids hate wearing pants, but we get them to! Treat a mask like pants! History shows us that during the Spanish Flu epidemic there were “anti-mask leagues” too. Guess what? There was a second wave of Spanish flu that killed more than the first wave. Ever heard that phrase, “History repeats itself?”
STOP GOING TO BUSY PLACES! I’m bored too. We want to get out. There are safe places to go. Be creative. You have the internet at your fingertips! As a history teacher I am compelled to remind you that past generations have made sacrifices without complaint. People have respected nighttime curfews and rationing during wars. Ask your grandparents about the awesome small sacrifices they have made for the country. They were probably much bigger deals than skipping a trip to Noah’s ark or wearing a mask. Covid-19 is our war. We are making history right now. (And fun fact; our current death tolls are higher than several of the wars we have fought.) Maybe, just maybe, if we wear our masks and stay home we can knock this out and have a better chance at school in fall and your teachers will happily disregard all the planning we have started for being ready for 16 different scenarios. (There are several countries that went on total lockdown, kicked out covid, and are now back to business as usual. This is fact.)
Start preparing your child. Let them know there could be many ways this could go. Help them get used to a mask. Use this time as a nice reminder that “the world does not revolve around you.” Isn’t that a trait we want our kids to have? Those arrows on the floor at Walmart? Practice the ancient art form of following directions. Not only is this a helpful life skill during Covid...but also life! Teach them to think of risky places to touch like door knobs and light switches. Practice not touching your face. I love being a teacher, but I LOVE when I don’t need to see your kid picking their nose while I make eye contact with them. These things are helpful in any germ scenario. Everyone hates feeling crummy. It doesn’t have to just be Covid we are avoiding. Colds, flu, whatever!
And finally, do not say that kids need to go back to school to save the economy. This is a masked way of calling a teacher a babysitter. I did not go to college and work on other certifications and get active shooter training and learn how to pack gunshot wounds to be your free babysitter. Yes, we are very lucky that we continued to receive a pay check (because we were, you know, doing our job) during the quarantine period. However, many of us were unable to work our second jobs and are now missing out on our summer jobs that we need because our first job doesn’t pay so great. And believe it or not, teachers also care about the economy. Guess what happens when the economy sucks? $$$ FOR SCHOOLS GET CUT. Did I mention we already got budget cuts for the upcoming school year when we will need to put in extra safety protocols? SERIOUSLY, we get it.
So in conclusion...we really all want the same thing. We need a little bit of compromise to get there. Be kind. Wash your hands. Thank you.
*Currently circulating on Facebook
Yup, this is Wisconsin....parts of it anyway, more than I'd like to think.
Today was one of the worst days I’ve ever had in the Army in almost 24 years. Today I sat down with my entire Battalion to discuss the current issues we are facing as a nation. I wasn’t prepared.
Fort McCoy is in a very rural community. Very rural. It is nestled in between the towns of Sparta, Wisconsin and Tomah, Wisconsin. Each town has a population under 10,000, and the demographics are not diverse. Both towns are situated in the poorest county in the state (Monroe), and we are 45 minutes to an hour away from the next biggest town. It’s not a bad place to be stationed if you like peace and quiet, small town living, and you aren’t black or brown.
I had asked my Commander earlier in the week to talk to the Battalion because Ive been bothered for a bit now about how things are going in the country. I have several people in my life who I talk to on a regular basis. People who I genuinely care for, and people I tremendously respect. Over the last two weeks I’ve heard, Rich that could have been my son. Rich I just tell my kids all they need to do is get home safe. Rich I’m scared to let my kids out of the house. I have two boys and the thought of people I care about living their lives like that breaks my heart.
Today I wanted my Battalion to know that while I can’t view the world through their eyes, I don’t live their lives, and while I can’t walk in their shoes everyday, I recognized their is a problem, and I would be there to listen to them and help where ever I could. And thats how I lead off the discussion. What I got back gutted me.
I sat in front of a room full of people who are like family to me. I would do anything for them. By the very nature of my profession, I would give my life for them. I’ve been their Command Sergeant Major for over two years now. These are people I see everyday. I had no idea that I have Soldiers who wear their uniforms to grocery shop because they are scared of how they are treated in Walmart when they don’t. I had no idea that I have Soldiers who’s kids regularly come home from school crying because another kid called them the n-word...again. I had no idea that I had a Soldier who had to take their child out of school because they were being so tormented over the color of their skin. I had no idea I had a Soldier who’s wife was turned down for a job at a local bank because, “we don’t hire you’re type in this town.” I had no idea that a few weeks ago one of my Soldiers, who is one of the most kind and gentle women I know, was told to “get out of the crosswalk n-word” as she was out for her evening walk. I had no idea that I had Soldiers who felt like this is the worst place they had ever been stationed in the Army. Not because of the unit, but because of the racism in the surrounding area. I had no idea.
I spent two and half hours listening to them, letting them vent their fears and frustrations, and crying with them. I’m still a wreck three hours later. I’m not able to type this without choking up. These aren’t towns I want to live in. This isn’t the America that I want to live in. Something needs to change. Something needs to drastically change.
Where do you begin? How do you change an entire community? How do you get so many people to try and see life through the eyes of another person so that they understand how unfair and unjust the system really is. I don’t know. All I know is I’m going to do my best to figure it out with them, and hopefully I can make a small yet positive difference in their lives. Hopefully.
*from Facebook, posted by a personal friend, who is also personally friends with this man.
Attention business owners!
If a customer presents you with this card, you are completely within your rights to ignore it. To begin with, the ADA does not apply to face masks. Secondly, this is NOT a real organization. FTBA stands for “Freedom To Breathe Association”. It has no authority to decline public use of a mask. Send them packing!
This card is bogus. Spread the word.
Posted by a friend who's a contract tracer in Madison, WI.
Posted by a friend who is a Contact Tracer in Madison...
So it’s been a month of working as a contact tracer for WI. This is what I have to say about it:
1. The highest risk is in your household. If someone gets it ISOLATE THE FUCK OUT OF THEM. Seriously, shut them in the basement with a bucket and toss them lunchables and Capri suns 3X a day. Even if they’re asymptomatic. ISOLATE.
2. You probably won’t die. You might feel like you have a cold or the flu or you might be sicker than you’ve ever been. Covid doesn’t care who you are. And as miserable as you are while still being able to stay away from the hospital they can’t do anything for you. You might get over it in a few days. You might still find it hard to breathe 6 weeks later. COVID DOESN’T CARE WHO YOU ARE.
3. Speaking of death... you know what sucks? Like really really sucks? Interviewing a man or woman whose mother has just been taken off life support. The mother who you never got to say goodbye to. The mother who will die alone. And if it sucks to interview them imagine how it sucks to be them. If there’s something you could do, some small thing that could stop the spread of this fucker so no more sweet mothers die alone and their children cry to strangers on the phone because they hurt so much, HOW ABOUT IF YOU FUCKING DO IT, EH?
4. These outbreaks right now in WI: La crosse, Green Bay, Madison, Eau Claire (it’s coming for you) you know what they have in common? Colleges. Ten times a day I talk to a 20 something year old who says, “I thought since there are no rules that meant it’s safe.” Thank you WI Republicans! These kids go to bars and go home to their houses they share with 5 other people and one after another they all get it.
5. Speaking of college. If we are relying on college kids to police themselves and “do the right thing” IM LOOKING AT YOU UW. We are fucked. They live in dorms and apartments and shockingly they’re not so good at policing themselves. Even if your kid is, he is a drop in a very contagious bucket. I think the chance that colleges won’t be online by November is close to zero.
6. Speaking of bars? Don’t go. Strip clubs? Don’t go. Kalahari? (I wouldn’t if I were you) these are all places I’ve discussed with positive cases.
7. Community spread is out there, but you’re much more likely to get it from another persons face than a door handle. You know how we cover our mouths when we sneeze? Why do we do that? PUT ON THE MASK IF YOU ARE INSIDE. PUT ON THE MASK IF YOU ARE OUTSIDE BUT UNABLE TO DISTANCE.
8. Number one symptom? DIARRHEA. Every single person who has one or more symptoms has it. Headache also huge. So many people say “it started like this tickle in my throat.”
9. NOBODY HAS A FUCKING FEVER. I counted less than five cases where someone has a fever. And I think I’ve talked to almost 100 people. If anyone says they’re taking temperatures to check for COVID? RUN AWAY. 9 times out of 10 there will be no fever. Ask people is they have a raging headache and shit their pants.
In conclusion: MASKS, ISOLATION, NO BARS, MASKS, DIARRHEA, MASKS. Thanks for your time.
Soooo....Minneapolis police strongly advised me to
Delete my post about what happened to my nephew citing I was “inciting violence” in referencing his sexual orientation And they don’t consider this to be a hate crime. Thank you for all the comforting messages!
But... wtf?
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