By Dennis Richardson
It is that time of the year again, a time when yellow buses run and kids anxiously wait at the bus stops to hop on and bounce into the classroom for the first day of school.
Some home schools started Monday. I have seen some first-day-of-school pictures. Some public schools delayed their starts a few days.
There are a lot of logistics to work out. I do not envy the administrators, teachers and parents, and the students, who must have mixed emotions about what to expect.
Schools are not the only venue affected. Some churches are going back to online only services for the remainder of August as members start to become infected. More communities are making masks mandatory.
I am normally the eternal optimist and one who really thought this all would go away. Instead, it seems to have worsened.
There are cries for mail-in voting. Apparently going to the polls is dangerous in some of the larger towns. We always early vote and did that Wednesday. There were no lines and we felt really safe. No one wants to get this virus and those who have been exposed to it, and even those who have been part of crowds, should be especially cautious to not give it to others.
No one seems to really know all the ins and outs and whether wearing masks keeps one safe. Some say that not only masks should be worn, but also eye shields.
I do not mean in any way to make light of this virus. It is serious. Whether it was actually made in China or not doesn’t really matter.
I sure do not want to get the virus. While I stay away from crowds I do get out and about to the office about half a day and to the grocery stores. Wearing a mask in stores seemed like a real burden at first but I see a lot more people wearing them and it is not really a hard thing to do. If I have been exposed I do not want to spread the virus to others, especially those who are manning the supply stores.
One thing that is for sure: no one has caught the virus from holding a newspaper. Not that we sterilize our paper and ink, but for some reason we seem to be immune.
Stay tuned to your community newspapers and their online sites for updates. We’re virus free.
We pledge to continue bringing the news as long as we can. Prayers go up every day that this virus will vanish.
On a personal note, congratulations are in order for our youngest son, Daniel Richardson, who was perhaps the first person to be installed as the president of the Tennessee Press Association via a ZOOM call.
He is married to the former Lena Larkins and they have three hard-working and sweet girls. They reside in Camden and he is a deacon at the church of Christ in Camden.
He excels in each task he takes on and this one will be no different. If you see him out tell him congratulatons! This is a huge honor.
Tidbit: if you change lines (or traffic lanes), the one you were in will always move faster than the one you are in now.
