Spring Break!!!

"Looking for something to do on spring break kids, that will take your mind off of yourself? Volunteer. Shop for older folks. Check in on older friends and neighbors. Give to food and clothing shelves. Volunteer there."

Boy, oh boy, oh boy! Did I ever love spring break when I was in college! One year Maui, the next year Cancun, and the third year, South Beach. Girls, beer, party time and beach time! It was great! Well not really. Spring break when I was in college was nothing more than an opportunity to get some more hours in doing my part time job(s). Even getting the GI Bill, I was as broke as a joke in college. Plus - I got married before I graduated, and my student wife and I were broke together. When we were not studying, we were working.

Of course, I graduated with $0 student debt. My wife had $1,000 she incurred before we got married. But that was it. Kids today, who love to travel down to Florida and beyond for spring break, often times graduate with tens of thousands in debt. Is there something wrong with that picture? And today, in an unprecedented time of needing social responsibility, we can't get these butt heads off the beach, even though they are playing with fire. They can easily become carriers to this disease which has proved to be so deadly to older and compromised folks. Like their grandma and grandpas.

I don't care which doctor is on TV right now, the message is all the same. Act responsible. We do all of us need to act in a manner which will "flatten the curve" of infection. If we do not, if we all act like the youngins on spring break, we take the real risk of overloading our medical system with COVID - 19 patients. What does that mean? It means Italy, where decisions need to be made on who lives and who dies. Rationing. Can it happen here? Absolutely. Check out the numbers. We simply do not have enough hospital beds, respirators or ventilators if this virus goes unchecked.

I know, I know. I sound "preachy" right now. I really don't mean to. All I want if for all of us to get though this together and then go back to some sort of normal life. In case you have not noticed, lives for most of us are far from normal. And are going to be less normal for a while longer. Heck, yesterday, the midwestern state of Kansas threw in the towel for school. All schools will be closed for the rest of the the year. Now, California is considering doing the same. And NYC wants to go into a "shelter in place" mode, like San Francisco has done.

President Trump's medical team is watching the daily infection numbers like hawks. This federal government of ours, along with our state governments, are ready to enact draconian measures if need be. Nobody in our government wants to go into a national "lock down" mode like Italy, Ireland or Spain, but we might if we have to. What will keep us from doing that? Individual responsibility. Individual responsibility leads to social responsibility. And social responsibility leads us on a quicker path back to normalcy.

Looking for something to do on spring break kids, that will take your mind off of yourself? Volunteer. Shop for older folks. Check in on older friends and neighbors. Give to food and clothing shelves. Volunteer there. Give, give, give. Why? Your country needs you. Now, more than ever.