No Social Distance or Masks at this High School

I took this pic from a Facebook parent of a Texan High school student.  I blocked out faces so you can’t see that there is not one mask in sight but you can see the crowds of kids jammed into the gym for the pep rally.

No wonder we will never see the end of this virus.

 

My Neighborhood

 I grew up in the Gun Hill Projects in the Bronx.  I went to Evander Childs High School and City College.  I rode (and still ride) the buses and subways and never gave integration a thought.  My world was made up of people of all religions and all races and I assumed the world was like that.  I guess I was just dumb and sheltered.

When I moved to Queens I expected the neighborhood would be the same.  Boy, was I wrong.  My lily white neighbors had a fit when a Black family bought a corner house and were pissed at me when I was happy to have them as neighbors.  My only criteria for a good neighbor is one I can say hi to and who keeps the house nice.  More is nice, but not a requirement.  Friendships take a while to develop although my husband and I quickly became friends with the family on the corner.

Today, as I do every day, I wander the neighborhood, camera in hand and check out blocks I have never walked on.  Today's walk included blocks with houses mostly owned by Asians, Hispanics, African Americans, South East Asians and every nationality immaginable.  The houses are beautiful, well kept and if there are people outside, they are always friendly.  It warms my heart to be living in such an international area but it hurts when I think of the people who fled when the neighborhood "changed".  It hurts to see young people who look like me are no longer interested in buying homes here.

The guy in the White House is worried about keeping the suburbs safe for suburban house wives.  While I am not in the suburbs, I am in a suburban part of Queens.  These people keep my neighborhood safe so I and people like the women pictured below can live safely and in nice homes.

I never want to go back to an era where we can't all live together.  I want Trump to lose big and I want to send all the racism and hatred he has brought back to go back to the 50's 

Substitute Teaching During Covid

A friend was approached by a Nassau County school.  They wanted her to be a special sub in case a teacher needs to quarantine for 14 days.  The pay is a big $157 a day, no health coverage, no sick  leave and the job ends in January when a vaccine might be available.

This did not seem worthwhile to her and it certainly would not be worth the risk to me.  I guess, if you need the money, you have to take a chance.  Just seems like a gamble with small returns.

(Pictured above is the animal Zoom conference with participants from the Bronx and Queens Zoos.)