I PROTEST

I saw a post on face book that said, “We are not all in the same boat. We are all in the same storm.”

There is great truth in that statement.Everyone is suffering from this pandemic. But there are degrees of suffering. These are the four layers of hardship that I see.

1. The first layer is the one that applies to me. I cannot hug my grandchildren. I cannot go to worship with my brothers and sisters at church. I have toe be wary of shopping for essentials since my age puts me in a high risk category. But at the end of the day, these are inconveniences.
2. A greater hardship is experienced by those who have lost their jobs because of the shut down. There are some who are really sweating out their ability to make a rent or mortgage payment or a car payment or a grocery bill. Small businesses are on the brink of failure.There is a lot of anxiety among those who are really struggling financially.
3. The ones who are hardest hit by the storm are the ones who are sick and dying and their families. Many people have died alone because their families were not allowed to visit. There are a lot of broken hearts out there.

But I said that there were four degrees of suffering. The one that I passed over are the ones who have to go to work in spite of the risk that they and their families will become sick. The nurses and doctors, the truck drivers and delivery people, the ones who work in grocery stores, mail carriers, people who drive buses, people who clean hospitals, fire fighters and police officers and first responders, they go to work every day. And the more the virus spreads the more dangerous it is for them. Which brings me to the point of this essay.

The constitution ensures citizens the right to peaceably assemble and protest government decisions. Under normal circumstances, that right should not be abrogated. BUT THESE ARE NOT NORMAL TIMES! When protesters go out into the streets to protest the national shut down, they are not acting as good citizens. They prolong the suffering of those brave front line workers who are risking so much to serve us all.

That you have the right to protest does not mean that it is right to protest now.

I understand the frustration and impatience of people to open the economy again. But this is not about you right now. By you exercising your right to protest, you are infringing on the rights of the rest of us to get back to a place of health and the well being of our nation.

I think political leaders, on national and state and local levels are also anxious to open up again. But they want to do it in a way that is safe for the general public.If you don’t care about the general public, then care for the brave medical people who are overworked and crushed by the numbers of sick and dying. What about their rights to have a decent life? You being out in the street in crowds is making it probable that that crush will last longer. Why can’t we all listen to the scientists and medical people as to when to open the economy again. Jobs and paychecks and the economy are important. Are they more important that the lives of Americans that might be lost if we open too soon?

So I protest the protests. From the safety of my home, following all of the guidelines that the President and the Governor have laid out, I protest the selfish actions of people who in many cases just have a political agenda that has noting to do with the virus.

Staying home and taking every precaution is vital to keeping us all safe until it the storm is sufficiently passed. God did not tell Noah to swim to test his faith. He told him to stay on the Arc until the storm was passed.

You have the right to protest, but please consider the good of others as a duty. We ARE better than this.