How I Spent My Government Mandated Coronavirus Vacation

The past two months have been a bit crazy at my house. Luckily, neither my husband nor I have been diagnosed with COVID-19. However, like most Virginians, we have been directly affected by the restrictions imposed on “non-essential” businesses and hospitals throughout the Commonwealth. Generally speaking, I am a pretty mellow person, and I tend to take things as they come. But the flagrant hypocrisy and inequity that have resulted from the restrictions during the lockdown have almost taken me over the edge – figuratively speaking, of course.

To begin with, my husband and I enjoy going out to eat once a week – sometimes it’s just for dessert, but we still enjoy “date night” together. When Gov. Northam signed the Executive Order placing months-long restrictions on restaurants, recreation, entertainment, gatherings, and so-called “non-essential” retail businesses, “date night” at the Ryan household was put on hold. That wasn’t too big of a deal for us since I enjoy cooking – well, the weight we both put on because I have cooked so much is a big deal, but that’s another story.

For some of my friends and family members, though, these restrictions were a HUGE problem because they work in the restaurant industry. Many of these folks became instantly unemployed and had to figure out a way to provide for their families without an income. The same is true for those who work in hair salons – one day they have a thriving business with a loyal customer base, and the next day, they don’t. Not to mention, the owners of hair salons and other small businesses were still required to pay rent on their shops even though they were mandated to close their doors.

Sure, unemployment benefits were increased by $600 per month and the time allotted for someone to be on unemployment was extended, but now many of the restaurants and salons where these folks worked will never open again. At some point unemployment will run out, and these same individuals will be forced to look for new jobs, and they’ll have to compete for those scarce opportunities along with some 50 million others who also lost their jobs. So, I have to ask, what makes some businesses essential and others non-essential?

Within my home, the biggest problem had to do with the public health order Gov. Northam signed directing all hospitals across Virginia to postpone elective surgeries in order to preserve critical equipment like ventilators and personal protective gear. At the time this Order was issued, it seemed to make sense, but what I later found out was that “elective surgeries” was somehow extended to include “elective procedures,” the definition of which was left unclear with one exception --- abortions were NOT considered “elective.”

At the beginning of April, my husband’s cardiologist, who practices at INOVA in Fairfax provided us with an order for my husband to have a CT angiogram. Since we live in Shenandoah County, we hoped the procedure could be done locally with the results sent to the doctor, but we were told that Valley Health was no longer performing any “elective procedures.” So, I called the scheduler at the diagnostic center at INOVA, and they told me they were not doing “elective procedures” either. I was so frustrated that these places considered this to be an elective procedure that I actually contemplated going outside and screaming at the top of my lungs just to get someone to listen to me -- BUT then I realized, nobody would hear me because everyone was at Costco buying toilet paper. Fortunately, after several phone calls and lots of pleading on my part, an exception was made, and my husband was able to have the angiogram done at INOVA Fairfax Hospital.

Something is horribly wrong when a test to check for a blockage in a person’s heart is considered an “elective procedure” and an abortion is considered an “essential” right.

This takes me to the next event that transpired in my household, which probably doesn’t even count as a true crisis…but some of you will surely understand and relate to my predicament. One morning, I looked at myself in the mirror and couldn’t believe how much gray hair had popped up overnight – I mean, where did it come from? It had been eight weeks since I had seen my hairdresser, and there was no telling when I would get to see her again, so I decided to take matters into my own hands. I hadn’t colored my own hair since I was in graduate school in 1995, but I figured I couldn’t look any worse than I already did, and I headed out to buy some hair color.  First, I went to the grocery store since it was right up the street, but they were completely out. Next, I went to CVS, but they didn’t have any either -- clearly, I wasn’t the only one dealing with bad hair. In the end, I bit the bullet and went to Walmart where I nabbed one of the last boxes of Nice ‘n Easy and went home.

While I was on my way home, it dawned on me – all three places had been packed, and I had been around at least 30 people. I would have come into contact with fewer people if I had just been allowed to go to my hairdresser, but she wasn’t considered “essential.”

While the predicaments that I mentioned above outraged me, the bombshell that Gov. Northam dropped this week has me fit to be tied. Citing the benefit of all Virginians and “their public safety,” starting Friday, May 29, Gov. Northam is requiring all Virginians ages 10 and up to wear face coverings inside all public places including brick and mortar stores, restaurants, salons and barbershops, and on public transportation. It’s odd that he thinks he has the authority to do this after being photographed over Memorial Day weekend in Virginia Beach without a mask and standing very close to three other individuals who were also not wearing masks.

We’ve all listened to the Governor for months as he preached about the need to practice social distancing and to wear masks in public, yet he didn’t think it was necessary to bring one with him to a public beach.

This begs the question, why is “public safety” such a concern for the Governor today but it wasn’t a couple days ago when he was traipsing around Virginia Beach without a mask?

Since the first Executive Order regarding COVID-19 was issued by Gov. Northam, our economy has suffered tremendously, thousands of small businesses have been forced to close their doors, Virginians throughout the Commonwealth have been prevented from exercising their religious beliefs, unemployment has at least doubled, supply shortages have ensued at grocery stores, and high schools and colleges had to forgo graduation ceremonies. So much damage has been done to so many as a result of the restrictions placed upon us by Gov. Northam, and I just keep asking myself, “WHY?”

Why is it acceptable to go to Lowe’s to buy plants, but not okay to get my eyebrows waxed?

Why is selling alcohol essential but selling goods and services at a family-owned business not?

Why are pools not allowed to open even though experts say the virus is killed by heat and sunlight (and probably chlorine)?

Why are camps for children closed even though experts say that children are the least likely to be impacted by the virus?

Why are we required to wear masks across our nose and mouth when we are just as likely to contract the virus if the germs enter our eyes?

While I understand the need for all of us to take measures to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus, I also understand that when the laws don’t apply to those who make them, then people are no longer being governed – they are being controlled.

And when our federal and state constitutions, and the rights guaranteed therein, can be indefinitely suspended anytime a Governor decides to declare a public “emergency,” we have ceased to be citizens ruled by law, but rather the subjects of a tyrant.