This past weekend was the first time Robert and I needed to show our vaccination cards to get into an event or locale. It was the annual Cambria Scarecrow Party. This was an evening of food, drink and music—and even though it was outdoors—the organizers decided that its clientele would feel much safer in a party setting if all 200 guests were vaccinated.
(Full disclosure: I’m on the board of that Festival, fully supported their decision, and staffed the vaccination and ticket checkpoint for the night.)
I’m so pleased to say that the party was a great success and that there was no resistance to the policy. Early in the selling process, a couple of guests requested refunds when they learned of the requirement; nevertheless, the event sold out for the first time in its history.
I think people welcome rules and a plan. So many guests proudly held up their cards and pointed out, “Three shots, got my booster!” Others had been clearly carrying their cards around for months, and the cards were already showing wear and tear. Hint: take a photo of the card and store it on your phone. Others had stored the proof on their phones but they couldn’t easily retrieve the photo. Hint number two: create a special folder for photos that you might need to find quickly.
A few claimed they didn’t know about the need or had forgotten the card. But every one of them actually went home, retrieved their cards, and returned—even the couple that lived over 20 miles away. (I can’t say I would have done that.)
And all had a great time . . . eating . . . . wining . . . dancing . . . hugging and chatting.
We might all have that all the time, if not for the bizarre political divide that has turned public safety into some weird referendum on freedom. It’s a political calculus I don’t understand.
The biggest bloc of voters are those 65 or older. Over 85% of this population is vaccinated. Even in the reddest of states, at least 70% of seniors got the shot. And among adults as a whole, the number of fully vaccinated across the country is about to break the 70% mark, with the percentage having received at least one shot another 5 or 6 points higher. There isn’t a state in the country where the voting population is less than 50% vaccinated. So just how does the right think this appeal to the unvaccinated will help them win majorities?
Clearly, I’m not a politician. I apparently don’t know how to use an issue to divide, inflame, and overwhelm the interests of the majority.
But still I have hope. If the majority would band together to protect our common interest, we could drown out those loudest voices who too often dominate public discourse.
Of course, we’re about to take a cross country air flight and wear masks for hours at a time and perhaps have to deal with some of those unruly obstinate. Maybe you should check back with us when we return home.
Please check out all my novels in paperback or Kindle format, including Tales from the Loon Town Café, The Finnish Girl, The Devil’s Analyst, and The Long Table Dinner. The Kindle edition of The Long Table Dinner will be on sale for only 99 cents during Thanksgiving weekend, 2021.
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