I’m tired.

I don’t like to clutter my space with social issues, but today I can’t help myself. I will apologize up front if I offend anyone during this rant. But I AM tired.

I am tired of this whole covid thing. Certainly it is nothing to ignore, but we are being pummeled relentlessly with “facts” and “figures” which, quite honestly, I feel are often presented to confuse us and, worse yet — scare us. We seem to relish in this death watch, nationally and globally. We can’t wait for the next update.

Yet no one seems to care about the unintended consequences of lockdowns. Suicide and suicide attempts are dramatically up. Drug abuse is up. {I can’t explain this since no one is working and thus should have less cash on hand.} Spousal and child abuse is up. Crime is up. Depression is more prevalent. Doctors were mandated to defer non-emergency tests, procedures, and treatments. I have to wonder how many illnesses could have been discovered earlier when, perhaps, they were more easily treatable.

I do think we needed a worldwide pause as we wrapped our heads and most brilliant minds around the pandemic. I just don’t think we needed to shut everything down except essentials — isn’t every job essential? — for as long as we did. Within weeks, our doctors and scientists were able to dissect the little bug and start breakneck speed “discoveries” in its epidemiology.

That’s where it breaks down for me. There has been a lot of worldwide work on the virus and, as is often the case among doctors and scientists, their expertise and bias drives their conclusions. And they tend to be non-committal — could, may, might. We’ve heard it — “maybe a year” when it turns out to be weeks or, on a positive note, turns out to be years. That’s why we get second and third and fourth opinions trying to find a narrative we’re comfortable with. The epidemiology may be scientific but it’s more an educated guess. The truth is the virus will affect — or not affect — each person differently based on their genetic makeup, their lifestyle, their underlying conditions.

I’m not getting into the efficacy of masks or social distancing. That’s your individual call. But it seems a little common sense would go a long way in mitigating the disease — washing your hands … coughing into your arm … staying away from crowds, especially if you’re feeling under the weather.

It’s time to put things in perspective, not propagate fear. I refuse to live in fear. My time will be up at the appointed time — not before, not after, whether or not we are experiencing a pandemic.

I’m tired of politics. Especially as we race to a national election, the rhetoric has become more divisive on both sides of the aisle. Our elected leaders — let me emphasize OUR — look at party first and people last. How do speeches reflect party planks? What gotcha comment did the opponent say or do today to advance the party agenda? How can facts be twisted to benefit the party?

A perfect case in point was the House Judiciary Committee hearing with Attorney General William Barr. That wasn’t a hearing. That was political posturing. I mean, really, you “invite” the sitting attorney general to get answers and don’t allow him to answer? He is called rude and ridiculed. It was a farce. It was a perfect illustration of how power hungry the politicos in Washington have become. And we’re supposed to take them seriously? Seriously!

You don’t have to look far beyond the Beltway to recognize this. Although perhaps not as blatant, just look at campaigns in your state, county, city, village, town. Are the candidates telling you what they would do if elected, or the horrors their opponents have committed?

I’m tired of all the political correctness. A blade of grass is not a cow — even after being digested. Doesn’t anyone realize any person or group can be offended by almost anything? So we “correct” the affront — at the expense of everyone else. Washington Football Club? Lions & tigers & bears, oh my!

I’m tired of revisionist history. History is history. Our founding fathers were not perfect. Our leaders over the past 200-plus years were not perfect. You are not perfect. I am not perfect. In fact, the only Person I know who was perfect was Jesus — and they crucified Him … literally!

The Civil War is part of that history. The Civil Rights movement was part of that history. We can’t, we just can’t erase our past. We can learn from it. We can grow from it. We can’t and we shouldn’t erase it.

I’m tired of the protests. Yes, black lives matter, but all lives matter. Police lives matter. White lives matter. Asian lives matter. Muslim lives matter. We all matter because our God created us uniquely.

I have no problem with peaceful protests. I want to know your experiences. But you’ve lost me at the first brick thrown. You’ve lost me when you allow the protest to be hijacked by thugs. You’ve lost me when the “protest” denigrates into rioting, looting, and violence. You’ve lost me when the stereotypes surface.

I know the movement is to deal with systemic oppression. However, that’s a two way street. The last time I was involved in a traffic stop, I couldn’t help but notice the trooper had her hand on her pistol throughout the entire stop and especially when I reached into the glove box for my paperwork. The thing is she had no idea what was in that glove box. You don’t know what kind of day she had … did her call log include a domestic incident? Was her last call a death or injury notification? Put yourself in her shoes if you want her to walk in yours.

I personally don’t think the unrest is caused by systemic police procedures. It goes deeper than that. It goes to a legal system where indigents overwhelm the public defender system resulting often in less than effective court representation and additions to a rap sheet. It goes to the family unit that too often includes a single mom, an absent dad, and a slew of step-siblings. It goes to education — or lack of it. It goes to economics where the glitzy allure of quick gain through illegal activity overpowers hard work. It empowers gangs as the familial support unit. It goes to a total lack of respect for anyone but self.

We’ve successfully taken God out of our schools, communities, and lives. Is it surprising many have no moral compass?

I’m tired of social justice commandeering our lives. I am all for social justice, but for goodness sake, take it out of our sports arenas. Celebrities — who typically are as far removed from experiencing injustice as anyone — are not spokespersons for the oppressed and down-trodden. It’s easy to talk about the plight in the projects from your $150 million gated mansion in Malibu. It’s easy to pick up on a cause behind a wall of armed bodyguards. Please. Please. Please. Actors act. Singers sing. Athletes play. Don’t push your values on me or anyone else. Use your talent. Be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

I do want to understand the struggles my friends of color have gone through … and I have listened. I understand the frustrations. But, you know what, when we talk — and listen — we find out we have more in common. The roads we travel may take us through different landscapes — urban, rural, peaceful, chaotic — but we are in this life together.

My suggestion is to stop the whining. Stop the entitlement mentality. Stop blaming everyone else for the choices you make. Educate me by showing the accomplishments of those who have fought the battle — people like Hank Aaron, Benjamin Banneker, George Washington Carver, Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King Jr, Thurgood Marshall, Rosa Parks, Condoleezza Rice, Jackie Robinson, Mary Church Terrell, Harriett Tubman, Ida Belle Wells-Barnett. The list can go on and on.

I’m getting off my soapbox now because …

I’m tired.

THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: It is at the end of the race when we know who the winner is. It is not at the start. If you are winning at the start, do not consider yourself the winner until you cross the finish line.