It was a good morning to catch up on some rest so that is what I did on Thursday. Friday was a burl. Now starts another weekend that I’m both looking forward to and apprehensive about. So I’m going to hope for the best.

Patience – So I’m relaxed when I got up the other day and then I saw Governor Hogan said he wants schools open on March 1st. But I thought I heard him say last week how difficult it was to get the needed doses of vaccine and getting them to the people when they were in hand. And we are in phase 1 right? I thought it was going to be late summer at best before 75-80% of the people had the vaccine. So for the sake of having the kids in school for 3 months and not having to listen to some parent’s bitch, you’re going to risk more sickness and death.

I’m trying to be patient but I get these conflicting messages and I wonder about safety. Yes, I know all the reasons to get kids back in school. Yes, I know it has an impact on the economy complicating care/work. But what is a life worth? Be it a child, teacher, administrator, bus driver, cafeteria server, what cost are you willing to pay personally. I have two children who are teachers. I hope both get their vaccine and second shot in time but what if that doesn’t happen? Neither has happened to date. I’m sure I don’t want the Gov playing Russian roulette with my children and their family’s health.

He says there is no public health reason for schools not to reopen. And he sounds like he’s going to be a hardass about it. Well, that kind of pushes a few of my buttons so let’s rock. Let me ask you something Gov, your stats don’t back up your statements of no risk. Either that or the logic in the spring was all F’ed up or now you have a different set of standards. We are averaging double the number of cases we had in the spring and the number of deaths per day as of today and the highest peaks in May is only slightly lower than the spring 43 to 56 per day average. Not to mention the more contagious form of the Virus now starting to circulate in this country and has been found in Maryland. So who’s backside did you pull that statement of no public health reason for schools not to reopen from? Really I’d like to know because both of you need to be rethinking threatening people like this.

And let me give you something to ponder Gov. If you do pull this off and someone or many people pass, who do you think will be blamed for these deaths? And who do you think will be held accountable? I know the answer to those questions and if you think the answer is someone else, think again. And if you’re just grandstanding for a bunch of parents who march in Annapolis, then shame on you also.

Governor, in my opinion, you would have been smarter to say “Obviously we are looking at schools and having kids and teachers back in them asap. We are assessing this week by week along with the risk and possible phased plans. But it all depends on the risk to the community, availability of the vaccine, and our ability to prepare the facilities. We will keep you updated weekly with our findings and reasonings because the situation fluctuates so fast we have to be responding the same way. All school systems or communities’ availability of the vaccine might not be equal. The virus has mutated and new risks are coming to light that also has to factor in. To base decisions off one week’s statistics and then have a spike and have to shut down doesn’t make any sense. We are working with the facilities to make sure they can be maintained safely. We are working with the teachers union on protocols and safety and guidelines. We are making sure everyone from the person serving your child a meal or cleaning the school to the bus driver and everyone in between has been fully vaccinated. Also, it has not been determined even if you are vaccinated that you can’t carry the virus so it is important even when the return to school facilities happens that safety protocols in place are still followed. Obviously, I have no control over individual county’s school systems but as the Governor of the state of Maryland, we are deploying all resources in helping communities best determine when schools open safely with as much information and financial support needed. Thank you for your patience.”

But NOOOOO, you start with threats. For someone who does a lot of things right, when you screw up you don’t fool around. Of course the same can be said about me, so we are bedfellows who don’t use our best judgment from time to time.

Good luck with your next decision/action. Remember, live and learn.