There was a comment made somewhere in this thread and I'm not going to take the time to look for the exact post to quote because i do NOT want to make the poster feel like I'm attacking them personally. I had an extremely stressful day yesterday for personal reasons completely unrelated to this discussion leaving me with little emotional reserves but i wanted to share my PERSONAL thoughts.
Part of the problems that are arising from this discussion is the dividing line between receiving a service and providing one. Someone asked if any of us were/are upset when other types of services started being able to be offered again or if we only felt this over the return to school. (Remember this is coming from someone who has no children in school and does not work in a school setting in any capacity) For me and my hubby as well, YES we were and continue to be extremely concerned about the types of services that have been allowed to open up before we felt/feel they truly needed to be. Haircuts and/or other beauty services?? No, that one really irked me, again just personal. Indoor restaurants/Bars? OMG, yes, 1000X yes, i think this is too early. But the most ridiculous reopening? GYMS!>!!!??? No, not safe, for anyone, staff or clients.
Another question asked or comment made was that if teachers and/or other staff didn't feel safe returning then maybe they should just find another job, or not go back (AGAIN please don't feel attacked if you made the comment, I'm only vaguely recalling the comments with no idea who made them!!!) I think the problem here is that we need to remember that for almost every other service that has been allowed to start up again most have required the wearing of masks for both customers and employees-again remember in my county it's been mandated since June so you can't go inside ANYWHERE without a mask if you're over the age of 3(not sure about the stupid gyms though?) BUT for most education settings what we're hearing and/or reading about is that masks won't be required. Personally I can understand that might be extremely distressing for someone to know that the people they are working with are required to wear a mask to spend an hour in the grocery store but not to spend an entire day, inside a small room, with over 20 other people.
Trying to summarize my scattered thoughts here is hard! I don't think anyone should be attacking anyone else for their thoughts, feelings and opinions over this subject. Perhaps if we are able to take the viewpoint of this old, annoying woman and look at it as a service that is being given and received it might be easier. IF possible, doing our best to remove our emotions from the equation *might* make it a tad easier to deal with what is being offered, how it will be delivered and how our families will participate in this "different than before" school year. It's not perfect, but we all know that!!! AS with any other service, business or industry that we deal with, it is up to us to decide what the best solution is for OUR family and not try to make others feel bad for making different decisions for THEIR family.
