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Yesterday was one of the most deeply disappointing days on record.

Amie and I had anticipated a Tuesday morning spent at brunch to enjoy one another’s company and consider our goals for 2022. But when Royal woke on Monday with a cough it sent us into a tailspin of disappointment.

Perhaps if it were the first time sickness had killed our hopes, it wouldn’t have been so discouraging. But that coal-black chain has abruptly jerked us back into the gloom of survival-mode living until our neck bleeds and our bones ache.

But it’s not sickness itself; it’s the persistent, abrasive friction of living in a society that crushes parents and despises children. Never would I spend three hours at an urgent care for a mild cough, but I am left with no alternative if I want Royal to return to school this week. That’s not counting the additional three hours we spent in search of a saliva test because DHS had made it the only acceptable test (not anymore, after a call to the school), with the calls with nurses who didn’t know what a SHIELD test is and suggested we “do more research, perhaps google it.” After a precious day lost wading in bureaucratic bullshit (and not the first day lost this way), we won’t have Royal’s return-to-school pass for 48 hours.

This is what I think of the self-righteous, maternalistic pricks that equate policed obedience with love. I think you’re terrified of losing the regard of your fear-blinded neighbors and constituents. You justify your cowardice with charts and platitudes, but you’ve abandoned reason and love. You claim Martin Luther King Jr. as your champion, but you would never join him in his humiliation, you lukewarm leaders. Be courageous and defend the downtrodden. Protect the rights of the unvaccinated minority, both adults and children, and live for more than the cheap regard of your fear-blinded peers.