It will take our best shot

By Walter GeigerFor about 25 years, I have watched the Palm Sunday worship service at my church from the choir loft. This year I watched it via video stream on my iMac. All involved did the best they could. They gave it their best shot but it just wasn’t the same.When you get right down to it, nothing is really the same.There is no school; no high school, middle school or recreational sports. There was no NCAA basketball tournament, no Masters and the pro baseball season has been delayed which also puts off the annual disappointment for Braves fans at the end of it.Kids who should be in school are at home. Many parents are likewise at home, having been laid off, furloughed or instructed to work from there. Those kids can’t be taken to the movies or out to eat. This has had one positive effect, I have seen more kids playing outside in the past few weeks than I have in a very long time. Hopefully, they will grow to like that and not be so dependent on electronics for entertainment.Still, people miss their routines. I know I miss mine. It seems that, instead of doing what we usually do, we are waiting for the next shoe to drop – for the next round of bad news. People are dying and, sadly, more will die.A statewide shelter-in-place order was issued Friday night. It was meant to get the attention of those who have not taken the coronavirus pandemic as seriously as they should have. It helped somewhat. I made it a point to ride around over the weekend and observe the impact. Commercial areas were largely empty with the drive-thru lanes at fast food establishments being the exceptions.Many were entering grocery and other stores with masks and gloves in place but the vast majority were not. In the evenings, I saw young people riding around packed six or more to the car. I saw groups of young men congregating around pickup trucks packed close together in parking lots and hanging in tight knots on street corners.This is not good. Data indicates strongly that young people are not nearly as susceptible to COVID-19 as are other demographic groups but they can and do spread it to family members once exposed.You have heard and seen the safety guidelines so many times you can probably recite them verbatim so there is no need to go over them here. It is one thing to have knowledge but quite another thing altogether to act on that knowledge.The next two weeks or so are supposed to be the worst here in Georgia. Take the necessary precautions. Rein in your teenagers if they are among those still out joyriding and congregating with their squads.Additionally, look out for your neighbors, particularly those who are elderly and living alone. Check on them. Do their grocery shopping or run other errands for them. They are the most vulnerable among us.We made it through the great flood of 1994. We made it through a killer tornado in 2011. We have mourned collectively countless tragedies that have taken lives from us too soon. We have survived countless calamities and thrived in their aftermath.We can get through this but it will take our best shot.Can we count on yours?