Choices, choices

My television viewing has been of the escapist variety since the shutdown began. And now that Delaware County has been “open” for a week, I’m actually needing that escape a bit more than before.

Staying home was simple. Not easy, but simple. Stay home, be safe.

Now we’re faced with choices. Continue to stay home is one option. It’s the one I’m mostly going for. Others I know are stepping back into the world, carefully or not, as suits their temperaments and beliefs.

That’s the part that scares me. Way too many people are fussed-up about wearing a mask, but who still insist they have a right to go out and mingle, other people be damned.

One person did that at a local livestock auction last week. He hung around for eight hours, without a mask. He then tested positive for Covid-19. Health departments in three counties are trying to track down everyone who may have been exposed.

Our daily count of new virus cases, which were lingering around none or one each day for Delaware County, may be increasing faster now.

I watched the entire available series of the Star Trek spinoff “Enterprise.” It wasn’t horrible, and we had a good time laughing at the moments when we knew all the other Star Trek geeks would be geeking hard: references to other shows, cameos by actors from other shows, even episodes shot on the sets of the original shows. Yes, I caught the references. I’m a geek, too.

I watched kids’ movies that I knew would make me feel good about the world. I avoided psychodramas, no matter how good they looked. There’s enough of that right now.

Last night I watched “Becoming.” the documentary about Michelle Obama’s book tour. It’s about more than that, of course. It’s a reminder that there have been people who took the responsibility they were given seriously. It’s a reminder that that particular responsibility is not just a golden ticket. It involves sacrifice. It’s a reminder of a time when the White House messaging was about hope, and about unity.

It’s not about party affiliation. It’s not about political philosophy. It’s about decency, and a conviction that people are essentially good. It was a fine escape.