Memorial Day's "New Normal"

Yesterday was Memorial Day, and my heart goes out to all of the men and women in the US Military who have died in battle.

Interestingly enough, people often use this three day weekend as beach days as they are conveniently placed at the beginning of summer. Unfortunately, with social distancing guidelines still in place, it makes for a more difficult time for hot girl summer with everyone crowding the beaches. While many Southern states' beaches have already reopened, such as Florida, New Jersey's beaches have remained more cautious about reopening. They have placed many new measures so that people will social distance. My personal favorite is that they have instituted "Insta-cops", which are people that they give badges and radios to so that they can contact the actual police if they see people not obeying guidelines.

The general consensus that has been reported from the governor of New Jersey and Delaware is to stay inside if possible, but if going outside is needed, to stay as safe as possible. (The governor of Pennsylvania will have none of that and is compelling his people to stay inside no matter what.) Unfortunately, in Belmar, New Jersey, they got such a large turn out the first few days that they had to close down the sale of their seasonal admission passes for the beach almost immediately after that. Many of the people lining up refused to put on masks as well. I feel as if many states are doing very good jobs at mitigating this growth, but we are getting antsy and demanding freedom. If we could simply just hold out for a bit longer, we would be much better off in the long term.

And of course, I need to include my favorite quote from Stewart Farrell, director of Stockton University’s Coastal Research Center in South Jersey, talking about the governors of New England and Mid-Atlantic states: "I think they are all talking to each other and certainly not following the lead of Gov. Kemp or the governor of Florida, who seem to be coasting across the lake oblivious to the thunderclaps around them."

Let's not make these thunderclaps turn into a tempest.

Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/jersey-shore-many-other-u-s-beaches-reopen-memorial-day-n1213241

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