Saturday mornings used to reserve a spot in my mind for sleeping in, sunshine coming in through the slats on my window, and a more leisurely pace of life after a long week. It is quite different trying to untangle what day of the week it is after a steady stream of unexpected Saturdays hit in March, then April, and into May. While the work week resumed for some as "work from home" was lifted in our area, we have continued to try to bring a semblance of normalcy to our non-normal weeks. Today, Saturday is anything but leisurely.
After a week of wondering what enforcement Gov. DeWine would issue for our flagged "red zone" county, his "fireside chat" style address on Wednesday evening, and regularly resumed broadcasting briefing on Thursday, simply encouraged Ohioans "to do what they do best." We were encouraged state-wide to be a part of the solution, not the problem, and help flatten the curve and be the neighbors that he knows us to be.
In general, I hold strongly to the opinion that people are good. That said, let's have a moment of realistic discussion: we all know that one neighbor who he is not referring to.
Today, my husband and I woke up to find a makeshift garage sale put up in our shared driveway, spilling out of their house. There was no social distancing. Our neighbors (and their three children) were not wearing masks as they ran into the street to bring people toward our houses.
The tables were set about 6 inches to a foot apart from one another. Our neighbor, who drives a car for a "home health company" did not wear a mask. Neither did her children. As mentioned, we share a driveway. Our cars were boxed in, despite the fact that we needed to go to the pharmacy for a medication refill today because I have compromised lungs that require a nebulizer that is filled every day with albuterol. I am out of my medication and this was my earliest fill day.
As I felt anger rise, I cast my mind to those people I admire most. What would they do now?
Mr. Rogers is a go-to hero of mine. I love that he has immortalized the goodness of his mother with with this quote:
In my heart, I know that Gov. DeWine is appealing to us to be our best for one another, and seek help to follow the CDC guidelines. When we went outside with our masks to talk to our neighbors over the fence about our concerns (about twenty people had amassed on our driveway) we were shooed away and the boy who lives next door came running (with no mask) pretend-coughing at me. Running back inside (thank goodness our houses are separated by at least an iron fence), we called the non-emergency line of our local police department. We explained the issue and the secretary on the phone told us that there was no enforceable way to help us clear the mass gathering, mandate masks (even though we live in an area that is one of the counties with a mask mandate for congregate settings). I explained my confusion since part of this mass gathering was taking place indoors and no one was distancing or wearing masks. She hung up the phone after saying that we could call the health department. We called the Health Department and received a message that they are not open on the weekend, but would get our message on Monday. As a last ditch effort, we called the sheriff's office to confirm that although we live in a county that was just taken off the watch list for going "purple", that even though there was a mask mandate, and even though my vehicle was blocked in by cars and people who I could not safely approach, Deputy Oliver assured me my best bet was to call the Health Department.
I asked him what advice he would give to his daughter or wife it they were the ones making the call. He told me to have a good day.
I am imploring Gov. DeWine to read this, hear this citizen who is barricaded in her home with a computer (an almost 30 year-old woman, not that fear doesn't affect all ages equally) to see this gross oversight of how I have no Ohio neighbor to call who can, or will, help me.
So Gov. DeWine, won't you please, please be my neighbor?
Prepare, don't panic.
-Allison
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