Remember when the pandemic first hit our area?\u00a0 When Covid-19 became REAL for us?\u00a0 \u00a0We banded together as a community.\u00a0 Signs went up in windows, in neighbourhoods, in businesses.\u00a0 Signs showing strength in numbers.\u00a0 “Sarnia Strong”\u00a0 “Stronger Together”.\u00a0 \u00a0 Painted rocks showed up in random places.\u00a0 Hearts placed in windows of businesses.\u00a0 We were quick to offer our thanks and appreciation for those on the front lines.<\/p>\n
These days, it seems those messages of solidarity have been replaced with online arguments over whether or not we should have to wear a mask.<\/p>\n
I don’t want to HAVE to wear a mask.\u00a0 My first response to the news was “nope, I don’t want to have to wear a mask”.\u00a0 \u00a0 But I WILL.<\/p>\n
Because it’s what we are asked to do for the health and safety of those around us.<\/p>\n
Because\u00a0 we ARE stronger together.\u00a0 We ARE a community that cares about each other.\u00a0 It’s what we are known for.\u00a0 It’s what makes us great.<\/p>\n
This community comes together for every charity and fundraiser.\u00a0 This community comes together when families need help.\u00a0 \u00a0This community is generous and gives and gives and gives.<\/p>\n
So why are we fighting about whether or not we should wear a mask?<\/p>\n
A slight inconvenience compared to what some people are having to deal with right now.\u00a0 People who have lost loved ones, businesses, jobs.<\/p>\n
I’m not looking to start another argument, but it’s what we are being asked to do.\u00a0 For now.<\/p>\n
If we want to BEAT this, and keep businesses open and people working and most importantly – keep our family and friends SAFE and HEALTHY – why are we fighting it?\u00a0 \u00a0We are we fighting each other?\u00a0 Why are we being so critical and mean of others?\u00a0 Shaming and blaming is NOT who we are.<\/p>\n
If we can home school our kids, work from home, and go without toilet paper (smile) we can do this.\u00a0 We’ve proven we can do hard things.<\/p>\n
I don’t want to wear a mask.\u00a0 I don’t want to “do” any of this anymore.\u00a0 I’m tired of the social distancing.\u00a0 Standing in line six feet apart.\u00a0 Following the arrows and sometimes messing up and going the wrong way.\u00a0 I’m tired of all of it too.<\/p>\n
I want to go back to life as we knew it.\u00a0 Hugging friends and family.\u00a0 Being out in the world without fear.<\/p>\n
It’s exhausting.\u00a0 We’re all feeling pretty “done” with all of it.<\/p>\n
Now we’re being told to wear a mask (as of Friday at 12:01am) in indoor public spaces.\u00a0\u00a0I haven’t worn a mask since those horrible plastic face masks we used to wear when trick or treating – lol – you want to talk awkward and uncomfortable – they were the worst! (smile)\u00a0\u00a0I’m not looking forward to it.\u00a0 AT ALL.\u00a0 \u00a0But I will.<\/p>\n
I don’t like eating veggies either, but I do it because I know they are good for me and my body.<\/p>\n
This pandemic has been hard on everyone.\u00a0 Don’t let the fighting be what we remember about this time.<\/p>\n
Let’s hang to that community spirit we are known for.<\/p>\n
Let’s not forget how to be kind.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Remember when the pandemic first hit our area?\u00a0 When Covid-19 became REAL for us?\u00a0 \u00a0We banded together as a community.\u00a0 Signs went up in windows, in neighbourhoods, in businesses.\u00a0 Signs showing strength in numbers.\u00a0 “Sarnia Strong”\u00a0 “Stronger Together”.\u00a0 \u00a0 Painted rocks showed up in random places.\u00a0 Hearts placed in windows of businesses.\u00a0 We were quick","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":10617,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"featured_img_display":"Yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[4115,4337,4448,442],"class_list":["post-10616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-afternoons","tag-covid-19","tag-masks","tag-required","tag-sarnia"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-22 22:36:13","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"react_link":"https:\/\/foxfm.com\/blogs\/afternoons\/2020\/07\/the-view-from-here-did-we-forget\/","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/briwebapp.net\/cfgxfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/briwebapp.net\/cfgxfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/briwebapp.net\/cfgxfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briwebapp.net\/cfgxfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briwebapp.net\/cfgxfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10616"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/briwebapp.net\/cfgxfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10616\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10620,"href":"https:\/\/briwebapp.net\/cfgxfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10616\/revisions\/10620"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briwebapp.net\/cfgxfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/briwebapp.net\/cfgxfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briwebapp.net\/cfgxfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briwebapp.net\/cfgxfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}