The Hope of 2020 …it was a new year …
Yes, it was a new year full of hope. Little did we know. We were young and foolish, okay, maybe not so young.
There we were, it was a new year, we were going to breweries, taprooms, bars, taverns, saloons, speakeasys, illegal underground fight clubs.
Okay, maybe not the last one, but there we were, running around without a care in the world, all willy nilly, shaking hands and hugging.
Oh yeah, we heard something about a new virus, but it wasn’t going to come here, and if it did it wouldn’t be that bad, well like a cold, yeah that’s what we heard. Or no worse than the flu anyway.
Then They Cancelled St. Patrick’s Day!
Oh yeah, the shit, pardon the expletive, got real!
This is bad! Real Bad! But, wait a minute, the bars are closed, but the liquor stores aren’t, they were deemed “essential”. Well Duh!
So, I bought at my local essential liquor store only the “essentials”.
But wait … there’s more. The Dropkick F’ing Murphy’s were doing a live streaming event, for free, FREE!
Okay, maybe this isn’t so bad.
But What About The Breweries?
Oh yeah, remember them.
They slowly opened up, but with restrictions.
It wasn’t all bad though, something beautiful came out of the chaos. Curbside Pick-Up!
Oh yeah, you order and pay online, and at a specified time, you pick it up. You pull up and someone comes right out and puts the beer right in your car, RIGHT IN YOUR CAR.
Many took their downtime to spruce up a bit, especially outdoor areas. Yeah, and we learned about social distancing. Well, we can’t sit at the bar, but some opened back up with incredible outdoor areas.
Some ran various crowler and take home specials, some even partnered with restaurants and food trucks, which was brilliant.
Eventually inside seating was allowed, but again, with restrictions. We can’t sit at the bar, and we have to wear mask to enter, but we can go in, and order a beer, and actually sit down and drink it. And it will all be over soon, right?
But It Didn’t End!
No, it didn’t end, and my frivolity and irreverence aside, it didn’t end, and it’s still not over.
Many, if not most of us now have lost friends, family and relatives to a virus that some still think is a hoax. That some still think isn’t serious. Hospitals are overrun and overworked, covid units are past capacity. No, it’s not over, and until we as a country have a mindset change, things won’t get better.
Is There A Light At The End Of The Tunnel?
Well, I am an optimist, so I hope so. I don’t know if things will go back to the way they were, or quite frankly, even if they should. But maybe, just maybe, some sanity and reason will prevail and we can all go to our favorite brewery, sit at the bar and order a beer, say a prayer for the friends and family we lost and hope it doesn’t happen again.