Day Two Hundred Seventy-Three

Day Two Hundred Seventy-Two

Sometimes it's the absence of anxiety that makes you realize how much anxiety is "normal."

So, snow day! WOOOO! The whole build-up to it was wildly different than any other snow day I can remember. First, when the forecast came out, there wasn't the usual stress about it. Nobody from work called me to say they wouldn't be in the office. I didn't spend hours staring at a calendar and trying to decide which meetings REALLY couldn't be moved and which ones would best be delayed. I didn't care if the forecast was accurate or not because it wasn't going to change anything either way.

And, most of all, I didn't spend a whole lot of energy trying to figure out what to do with the girls. The big one can deal with an early release without assistance, but often activities continue to run even when school lets out early. I can't even begin to count how many times I've had to figure out how to make sure she got picked up and moved to another place in the midst of a snow storm.

It's a lot.

The other one ... now she is the REAL challenge.

Mila absolutely cannot get herself on or off a bus without adult supervision. So during kindergarten, if she had an early dismissal, I had to bail from work or call 14 neighbors until I found one who could take her. Even then, it was chaotic because there are two kids in this house and apparently I'm supposed to know where they both are? Or something? School cancellations are worse because there's nothing to be done with a small kid except to be home with her. Taking a day off is easy; taking a day off without notice is not.

Today, though. Today the girls woke up and wandered to their office just like they do every day. They did their school work and I did my work and it was all very ... normal? You'd never know there were flakes falling outside. Well, except for the part where Mila REALLY REALLY REALLY wanted to go out to play. She was so motivated to go outside that she managed to finish her school day by 10:00 am. As in, she focused in a way I didn't know the kid was capable of focusing and just knocked out an entire day's worth of school work in two hours.

She then played outside all. day. long. Her little cheeks were rosy and red, her button nose resembled Rudolph's, and she was shivering as she stumbled back inside. And she was deliriously happy. She was so happy that it was almost like she had a sanctioned half-day at school and used the afternoon for fun which she has never gotten to do because during the Before Times, I wouldn't have been able to stay at work and watch her through the window and been totally fine with it.

So hooray for snow days! Especially these ones that don't cause a major interruption to all of life.

Day Two Hundred Seventy-One

Let's ponder for a moment some of those life hits that shove your heart deep into your stomach and fill you with dread. Seeing flashing lights behind you as you drive down the road is one of them, right? It is possible that I panic a bit more than average, but that's because my name is still not Mark Brown.

That story hits differently these days, by the way. I knew then that I was fortunate to be a white woman, but HOOBOY WAS I FORTUNATE TO BE A WHITE WOMAN. Privilege, and all that.

ANYWAY.

I found myself driving down the road a few nights ago on my way to pick up take out for dinner. Some may say that's "lazy," I say I'm "saving the economy." I've been making it a point to get take out twice per week every week since this whole stupid thing began, and I generally choose to get it from a locally owned business who I hope will survive it all. The sacrifices we make when we know we're living a privileged life ...

Back to the point. I was driving down the road when the flashing lights lit up the night sky behind me. I hesitated for a moment because SURELY I was not the object of the police officer's affection. I was not speeding. I know this for all of the wrong reasons which we definitely will not go into. I also had not ran any red lights or passed anybody in any sort of inappropriate way. I was innocent!

It didn't matter. The lights were for me.

So I pulled into a parking lot and waited for whatever scolding I was about to get. That is when I learned that our friends in Pennsylvania now have super fancy cameras on their vehicles that take pictures of your license plates and instantly return "expired" or "valid." I guess they bought the cameras when the little stickers were abolished a few years ago.

So, yeah. My plates were expired. By 13 days.

I can swear on all of the things that I had no idea they were expired. I explained as much, even questing the fact that I hadn't received anything in the mail. Don't you get a notice in the mail when your plates are expiring? I definitely didn't.

I said as much, to which the police officer laughed. "Yeah, a lot of people are having that problem now. I guess the Post Office isn't as reliable as it used to be."

LET'S PONDER THAT FACTOID FOR A MOMENT, SHALL WE?  Grrrr.

As I was pondering, the police officer continued. He was in a jovial mood and was happy to report, "I've given out at least 20 tickets in the last few hours. Seems like lots of people don't know they are driving with expired plates." He laughed as I made an incredulous face and then sent me on my way with a verbal warning.

White privilege. It's real.

I continued on to grab dinner and saw that the police officer had yet another driver pulled over as I made the return trip. That car had pulled into the same parking lot I had a pulled into - a restaurant parking lot.

A very full restaurant parking lot.

On a day AFTER the indoor dining restrictions went into place because eating inside a restaurant is essentially manslaughter at this point because THAT IS HOW COVID IS SPREADING, YA GOOBERS. It's dining in restaurants and private parties and basically if you're gathering around people who you don't live with, you are why we are up to 300,000 fatalities. You are why the health department and governor had to intervene.

So what I"m saying is that the restaurant was open for indoor seating, despite the governor's order. And it was packed. Not at 50% capacity - it was PACKED.

I sure am glad that police officer was taking the time to ticket people for expired license plates while dozens and dozens of people were swimming in COVID soup right under his nose.