It’s time to take a look at the Good, Bad and Ugly from 2020 and early 2021.
The Good was demonstrated by the incredible people working the front lines in all sort of positions including the medical profession, teachers, parents teaching at home and the generosity and willingness of those who helped the helpless and less fortunate.
The Bad would have to be Covid itself. More than 350,000 dead. More millions sick. Unfortunately, many more will be sick and many more will die. Over 3,800 of your fellow Arkansans have died. Don’t get numb and dumb. Do the safe things.
And now to The Ugly. The resistance of a sitting president and other “patriots” to accept the outcome of the clearly decided election. His actions and reactions are a worldwide embarrassment. And the actions of the self-aggrandizing “protesters” on the Capitol Wednesday were deplorable: putting police, Capitol workers and even themselves in harm’s way. All this encouraged and incited by the petulant in chief. The protests turned to anarchy and sedition and true Americans wept as we watched it all unfold on television.
We will soon be transitioning to a steadier hand at the helm. It can’t happen fast enough. America needs to heal.
Top 10 Things I Look Forward to in 2021
Getting THE vaccine.
Sending my kids back to school.
Eating in restaurants.
Going to a store without having an anxiety attack.
Hanging out with friends.
The freedom to move about the country.
Being able to hold my grandkids, especially the babies, without fear.
Hugs. (And Kisses.)
Attending an event. Any event. Concerts, sporting events, movies.
Watching or attending sports with people in the stands.
Fumble, America
The distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine is a disaster. Miraculously, the vaccines were developed and tested in just under a year. And now, we can’t seem to get it into the arms of those who so desperately need and deserve it. All I’ve seen is finger-pointing, excuses and incompetence. But I’m not going to place any blame, because I’m not really sure why it’s not more organized. Check the nightmare in Florida for evidence.
Bloomberg has been tracking vaccination progress across the country and about 17.5 million doses have been sent out, yet just over 5 million shots have actually been administered.
In Arkansas 152,175 doses have been distributed to the state, 40,899 have been administered representing 26.9 percent of the total available doses.
Maybe we should turn over the distribution to Amazon and the inoculation planning to Chick-fil-A.
Word of the Week
I ran across a new word this week that seems to describe where we are today. That word is Infodemic: a massive amount of widely and rapidly circulating information about a particular crisis or controversial issue, consisting of a confusing combination of fact, falsehood, rumor and opinion. Not sure it’s a real word, but it’s certainly fitting.
See you on the Boulevard.
Neal Moore is a public relations consultant and resident of Maumelle. Send your Maumelle news or comments to neal.moore@sbcglobal.net.
I like the word: Infodemic!
Thank you for your point of view!