This is why we can't have nice things

Just a vent:  I'm so frustrated with my fellow Americans right now. I know many of us are.  I hope that we can come together to really think carefully about what our top priorities are, and what we're willing to defer for now.

I'm a school nurse and have been talking to families who are "really careful" and "never go out"....yet when asked contact tracing questions about their activities over the past few days, they've had out-of-state older relatives visit, they've carpooled to indoor recreational activities, they've had "just a couple people" over from three different households for dinner, they participated in or went to team sporting events, they were in restaurants, they popped out for an errand while COVID test results were pending. 

PEOPLE.  If you want K-12 schools open, you've gotta help us out.  I'm willing to accept a certain level of personal risk so that kids can get an in-person education if there is any reasonable way to do it.  But we have to think long and hard about our comittment to bars, sports, dinner parties, things like haunted houses and movies.  We have to cut the nonessential things loose for a while. 

I look at each of these people who really believe they've "been good" and are doing their part - not COVID deniers, happy to wear cloth masks while going about all their normal activities -  and I think about the chain of infections that inevitably will lead to illness and death for others down the line.  Including illness and deaths among nurses.

It's really hard to accept the risks inherent to our jobs right now, when other people are perfectly happy to risk my health so their kid can play football.  I've had it.  It's time for us to grow up and make some choices.