Holiday Weekend, Then Back to Work/School - with 12 Bus-Route Cancellations for Fayette County Public Schools

Hope everyone had a great Labor Day :)

We didn't go anywhere, this time, except a new walking/hiking trail for us, and we also decided to unplug from the internet and news for the weekend :)

We did binge-watch "Clickbait" on Netflix, though, which was worth a watch. Being a retired aspiring screenwriter (lol), I'm pretty good with "whodunit" stuff and can usually tell you "whodunnit" after 15 minutes in - but this one stumped me. 

Well, the twists do almost reach the absurd, after a point, but it does reveal some interesting things about our own prejudices, much like "The Undoing" - only in the opposite direction.

It also shows us what's possible with social media, how quickly we snap-judge assumptions about a person's life and character, based on an online snapshot of them, as well as how easily influenced we are to believe or disbelieve something -  even a person's guilt or innocence -  by what we think we see and hear online, even though we know much online content is deceptive and sleight of hand may be involved - and also asks us as a culture if we really believe what we say about justice in our constitution or not, when it comes to judging what we think people deserve based only on what we think we saw? 

If you haven't seen it, stop reading now, SPOILER ALERT. 

Our culture tends to think where there's smoke, there's fire, and sometimes that's true - but it can be a different story, someone else can create the fire and smoke - especially online.

Sometimes the motivation is jealousy, rejection, or retaliation for some wrong the perpetrator felt was done, either real or imagined, etc. - but law enforcement is discovering more and more these things are often done randomly, out of nothing more than the perpetrator's own boredom, sometimes the perpetrator just wanting attention or to feel powerful, not knowing the victim at all. 

(Thus, it doesn't feel like a real crime to the perpetrators, because people tend to objectify people online anyway, especially perpetrators with the "boredom" and "wanting to feel powerful" motivation). 

In fact, though this is not a true story, the examples they stumbled upon while investigating were in fact taken from real cases across the U.S. and the problem with online legalities, to include "freedom of speech" arguments, as well as extradition issues if the online crime was done in another state or country.

It's worth a watch, and though it's worst-case scenario-almost-to-the-point-of-absurd, considering the fact that much of the content was taken from real law-enforcement cases that had at least been initiated online, it's worth a watch, if for nothing more than to show you what's possible online and how unsafe and un-legally protected we really are.

Just because you haven't been a victim of a cybercrime in some form yet - from random hacked email or social media account to identity theft with banking or otherwise, even up to stalking/harassment - it does NOT mean you're either more or less attractive than others, a nicer and/or better person than others, smarter than others, or saner than others - it in no way means that you're either more or less "deserving" of being a victim of cybercrime than anyone else - it means you're lucky - period.


(And if you think otherwise, check your victim-blaming attitude and have a chat with your local law enforcement about the reality of crimes -  especially cybercrimes.)


Also worth a watch to show you that mob rule doesn't make the mob right, when it comes to a person's guilt or innocence, especially when it comes to what we think we see online, and again, makes us question ourselves, as a culture, as far as what we say we believe isn as justice in our constitution versus how behave when it comes to justice, especially online?


Anyway, it's back to work today, and here was a rude awakener ...

At present, we have 12 morning bus routes to Fayette County Public Schools Canceled. This is due to lack of bus drivers for two reasons - COVID and children acting out/fighting on the bus.

At last count, we had 324 people with confirmed COVID, with 70 of those being children - three people with breakthrough infections in my husband's department :/.

Yes, breakthroughs for the vaccinated are mostly milder, but still - with my husband's stroke in 2017, I worry.)

The new superintendent, Dr. Liggins, is from Texas, and is used to a district that demanded schools reopen early, during the original lockdown, and is trying to keep them open here due to similar demand.

Here, however, it's not just Trumpers that created the backlash previously (although we had those, too, standing outside the new Central Office, ranting about having to wear masks, and some recently carrying rifles and guns).

Also the backlash also came from poorer parents, who had no childcare and could not afford to pay for child care or be home to home school their children due to work.

(I don't think people realize the rules are stricter for people with menial jobs - no, you don't get to leave work to drive your kids to and from school or soccer practice and your 15-minute and 30-minute breaks are clocked in and clocked out, if you even really get them.)

Honestly, if I still had a school-age child, and wasn't working from home, I don't know what I would do, so I feel for those upset parents :/

However, what I'm 100% certain I would NOT do is  - instead of going to work -  stand outside the new Central Office to protest mask mandates, all day, with my children, carrying a rifle or gun (this picture was taken before the gun-toters showed up).

Because first of all, I'm a mask believer (at least offering some protection) and secondly, the only person there I understand being there at all is a disabled person, for whom wearing masks/getting assistance with masks is difficult (but then again, the solution to that problem is not NOT wearing a mask at all, but getting assistance with it or virtual learning for now).

Everyone else has no excuse for missing work and involving their children in a selfish protest. 

Honestly, are that bored or over-privileged, that wear a piece of cloth over their nose and mouth to protect them/ their children from a contagious virus is worst thing to ever happen to them or their community?

Again, ask yourselves - "What's the worst that can happen if I wear a mask?" 

And then "What's the worst that can happen if I don't wear a mask?"

True, there is a chance you could still get COVID either way, but at least a mask offers some barrier for protection?