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Woke up at 3:30am to the sound of a cluster of young women outside, somewhere around Fifth Ave. from the sounds of things. They were laughing and singing and having a great time, as if there were no pandemic at all.
It would be easy to get irate at them for clearly ignoring distancing, but last night, half-asleep, I didn't. And I don't now. The fact is, these young women are likely old enough to see the governmental actions for what they are, but without any real power personally.
The parallels between pandemic response and climate change action are many and striking. Our young people--children, youth, young adults--are too young to vote or are early in their careers, but they will bear, and are bearing, the greatest weight of the burden of crisis.
So when I see high school students walking unmasked in pairs and trios, when I hear revellers throwing caution to the wind, I don't actually blame them. And not because they are too young to know better. Quite the opposite: because they see the hypocrisy all too well.
"Stay home," but the province does photo-ops every day; "Wear a mask," but the Premier issues his daily chastisement without one; "Social distancing," but elementary students are eating lunch, mask-free, within a metre of one another.
It has been a *year* of half-measures, and contradicting statements. Entire countries have weathered this virus and have come out the other side into a kind of normality, but they did it with difficult, decisive action.
Ford is clearly more worried about his voter base and his re-election prospects than making the hard choices necessary. For an entire year we have all put our lives on hold. Next year, I get to cast a vote for a not-PC MPP, but kids? They get *nothing*.
