“They who give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither.”

–Benjamin Franklin

If you grew up on a farm, you probably know what cow tipping is. Spoiler alert: it has nothing to do with how much you pay Chick-fil-A employees! It’s the practice of sneaking up on an unsuspecting cow, ideally when it’s standing and sleeping, and tipping it over on its side. It may be a myth, but I have (fairly) reliable friends who insist they’ve done it, and say the cows hit a tipping point and go down like a sack of potatoes.

Unless you live under a rock, you know how awful Covid-19 is and what is recommended we do to mitigate its spread. Of course, compliance hasn’t been 100%, but we’re doing much better, and the number of positive cases is still escalating. It’s a pandemic that can’t be completely controlled. We should have focused on protecting those most vulnerable to lessen their risk.* A 9-month shutdown of varying degrees hasn’t worked, and people are getting tired of it, especially when duplicitous governors and mayors, not one of whom has missed a paycheck, issue mandates and then are caught violating their own rules. A bar owner on Staten Island openly defied the order to close his business. The Catholics and Jews took the State of New York to the Supreme Court and won, allowing them to convene for worship. Churches in California will likely follow suit. Turns out, people, like cows, have a tipping point.

We know so much more about the virus and its treatment now. The experts acknowledge that the actual positivity rate might be higher than the reported number by a factor of 10, which means that the percentage of those who are positive and ultimately die is even less than the estimate of under 1%. If people are more comfortable hunkering down at home, that’s fine; however, those who want to function as close to normal as possible should be allowed to do so, taking the proper precautions, of course. We’re 3-6 months from adequate vaccination, so let’s be smart, but not be afraid to live our lives.

Here are my lists of “FIVEs,” with a little humor added. Hey, if you can’t laugh a little, you might as well stay home.

FIVE actions I find silly, non-sensical, and/or maddening:

1. You can go to a strip club but not to church. Personally, I wouldn’t be caught dead in a strip club, and I guess I can’t be found in a church, dead or alive.
2. You can take your motorboat out, but not your sailboat. After all, everyone knows the virus is tough but slow-moving, and could never catch a motorboat.
3. Private and parochial schools can safely open, but let’s keep the public schools closed. Ugh! Nothing funny here. More about this later.
4. Several months ago, restauranteurs were told to upgrade their outdoor dining capability; now, they’re told there’s no indoor OR outdoor dining. Well, at least the upgrade effort gave them something to do.
5. The family Thanksgiving meal, one of the two most important of the year for most of us, must be limited to 10 members. Oh, wait…you have 11 family members? Two options: eat in shifts or ask your fat cousin Eddie to sit this one out!

Prioritizing the top FIVE vaccine recipient groups (I know this is not in agreement with the CDC but hey, it’s the CDC; they’ll change their recommendations soon enough.):

1. Healthcare workers/first responders. They’ve stuck out their necks for us since March and we owe them–big time.
2. Teachers. Then, the teacher unions will have to look for another excuse to keep teachers from in-class teaching.
3. Employees of nursing homes where residents are confined. The residents’ main risk of exposure is the people who care for them.
4. Older individuals who live independently or in retirement facilities but are still mingling socially and going places. As active older adults, they are vulnerable and deserve priority.
5. Young adults, the “superspreaders.” They see that their infected friends rarely get sick, which encourages them to continue risky behavior. Immunizing them will make it safer for them to return home to be with parents and other older adults.

FIVE things we need to fix–now:

1. Pass a new stimulus bill to get relief to families and small business owners. They’ve suffered enough, and many can’t wait several months for a vaccine to change things.
2. Get kids back in school. Their education has suffered tremendously. We now know their transmission risk is low. One of the biggest mistakes made in the spring was closing the schools, and public education still doesn’t get it. Shame on government officials and teacher unions.
3. Re-open small businesses. We’re talking about peoples’ livelihoods. They’d rather work than take a government handout.
4. Re-open restaurants, even if just for outdoor dining. Aren’t we all sick of cooking and eating at home?
5. Re-open houses of worship. Attendance will be down at first and we can safely distance, even indoors. Can’t we all use a little more religion right now?

And, finally, some optimism and a high FIVE: hate on President Trump if you must, but his administration’s Operation Warp Speed is responsible for Covid-19 vaccine development in record time. What normally takes years has been accomplished in just months. For those who are leery because they think it’s the “Trump vaccine,” why are they now choosing NOT to follow the science? Once the vaccine is widely available to the public, those who choose not to get it should have no expectation that the rest of us will refrain from once again living our lives normally. Their fear will no longer warrant the sacrifice of our liberty.

Disclaimer: No cows were injured in the writing of this post.

*For more on focused protection, read the one-page @Great Barrington Declaration at www.gbdeclaration.org.