Yes, I’m Fully Back On That Mask Stuff And Grateful I Didn’t Start Putting Away My Collection Yet.
Darlings! It’s been a week of super early meetings, so I haven’t yet had the chance to sit down and howl at the moon, er, I mean, internet this week. But don’t you worry, there’s still time to sit slack-jawed at the screen, wondering if it’s too late to start that commune in the woods (spoiler alert: it’s never too late to start a commune in the woods!)
TO THE INTERWEBS
This week, in the face of Delta and all of the havoc this lil’ variant is up to, California became the first state to require all healthcare workers and state employees to get the jab - and it shouldn’t surprise us, but that’s not going down well in some circles. BTW as a patient, if I found out the ER I was admitted to only have a fifty percent tax rate amongst its staff, y’all know I’d be interrogating everyone who showed up bedside, because I worry I’m becoming one of the angry vaccinated (all NYTimes and h/t Mum for knowing my state’s vaccine regulations better than I do)
There’s been a flurry of right-wing condemnation of Simone Biles’s decision to bow out of the team and individual all-around finals for mental health reasons this week (Daily Beast and ESPN). But not as much has been said about how Biles understood the rules of the event and how her vault would impact her team’s chances to medal, and I appreciate how this Yahoo! Sports story lays it out: How Simone Biles saved herself — and her teammates — at the Olympics. As someone who struggles with anxiety, and sees how my own mental health impacts teams around me, it meant a lot to see one of the best gymnasts ever recognize when it’s more important for both her and her team to stop and deal with her “demons” than push through to a catastrophic breaking point. And according to Reuters, Biles was “was flooded with messages of support from fellow athletes” after she announced her decision, competitors at the top of their sport who I’m sure better understand the athlete mindset than some armchair psychologist yelling at Twitter. Obviously, I hope you are sensing that the Missive is a 100 Percent Simone Biles Stan account.
While I don’t agree with much of his politics, in this joint we’re fans of Rep. Adam Kinzinger: One of the Republicans on the Jan. 6 committee went out of his way to rebut his party’s whataboutism (The Washington Post).
And finally, my parents AND Friend of the Missive Colin want you to read about how a South Korean broadcaster used insane inset images as they broadcast the Olympic opening ceremonies, because using a fictional supernatural serial killer and the largest nuclear accident of all time to illustrate modern countries competing in sport makes SO MUCH SENSE: TV Network Admits It Covered Olympic Opening Ceremony In ‘Inappropriate’ Way (HuffPost)
Be kind to yourself and you know what? Wear those masks. Wash those hands. With Delta, we’re back in Lonely Island YOLO territory.
xoxo Amy