I treat everyone like they have COVID. I assume everyone I encounter could transmit the virus to me. I now wear a mask at the office, all day. I wear a mask when I’m around anyone – especially indoors.
This past weekend my family came to my house in Orlando to visit and go swimming. We all wore masks when inside the house and kept a safe distance from each other in the back yard. My brother helped me tile my laundry room and we wore masks the entire time. It was a little annoying but we had no problem breathing.
I sanitize my hands every time I get out of the car and immediately when I get back in the car. Whatever I buy at the store gets wiped down with disinfectant before it gets put away and when I am done with that I sanitize my hands again. I use a germ key to open doors and punch numbers on a keypad.
Despite all of this, I realize that I could get infected. In fact, I assume that like everyone else I also have COVID and I take precautions in general to minimize my risk and in turn minimize the risk of me spreading it. Wear your damn masks! Keep your damn hands clean! Keep your damn ass at home if you are sick!
I saw a guy at the grocery store ATM who had a runny nose wipe his nose with his finger and then immediately used that finger to put in his pin number. This was the inspiration for the germ key. I also have heard several stories recently of COVID-positive people going out because they didn’t feel that bad. I’m not talking about people I have seen on the news, I’m talking about people I directly know or people directly connected to people I know. One kid tried to get tested but his boss made him go to work for several days — in a restaurant — before he could get to a test, which ended up being positive.
So please, just take the necessary precautions. We have to assume at the same time that we have COVID, protecting transmission from us to others, and that we don’t have COVID, protecting ourselves from those infected. Both can be true for us to slow the spread. So let’s slow the spread and stop another shut down.
I reserve the right to change my mind as new information comes in, but at this very minute I am not on board with those advocating a complete shutdown if all the plan consists of is shutting down. Unless we shut down until a vaccine is found, won’t we find ourselves with the same problem in a few months?
With a total lack of federal leadership, who will foot the bill for another shutdown? Certainly not the city or the county, and we have proof that Florida can’t handle that kind of responsibility. The current solution to rent and mortgage is to postpone payments, not forgive them.
I took a hit when Disney mistakenly took out four months of small annual pass fees from my checking account this past weekend. How will people be able to avoid eviction and foreclosure when they get hit with months of payments due at once?
It is possible for us as a society to be concerned about ourselves, our loved ones AND the economy. We can want to protect our mothers AND our jobs at the same time. They don’t have to be mutually exclusive. I don’t worry about myself in these matters as much as I do the seven people who rely on this company to survive. My families, both biological and at Watermark, are my concern. There has got to be a solution that protects both. I hope the teams of people charged with our futures find that solution.
In this issue of Watermark we turn our attention to a celebration. We recently crossed the five-year anniversary of marriage equality and in our in-depth section we pause to acknowledge this milestone. Watermark checks in with some of the couples who married on that landmark day, as well as those who were featured in our Wedding Bells section throughout the years.
In Orlando news the House passed a bill to designate Pulse as a national memorial. In Tampa Bay news we dive into the expansion of services with Metro Inclusive Health and CAN Community Health. Our Arts & Entertainment feature focuses on professional athlete, actor, model and activist Lendale Johnson whose new reality show talks about being a double minority, Black and gay.
We strive to bring you a variety of stories, your stories. I hope you enjoy this latest issue.
