Bladen Journal Takes the Dufresne Refrain to COVID | Eastern North Carolina Now

Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the John Locke Foundation. The author of this post is Jon Sanders.

    The Bladen Journal urges readers that it's "Time to get busy living, leaving fear behind":

• How many of us are shaking hands again? Giving hugs? Sitting next to each other, standing in a line capable of touching people in front and behind?
• Who got to the ballgame, and sat amongst the crowd?
• COVID-19 is not over as far as a pandemic goes, and it likely will not be proclaimed in some sort of "this is it" kind of moment. So don't look for it.
• But do, and we beg of everyone, look for ways to get Bladen County back to normal. If in fact, it isn't already. There's a case to be made that it is, and we're encouraged.

    A case can certainly be made. It's a heckuva lot easier making that case than trying to find one for keeping North Carolinians trapped in a "State of Emergency." But even Gov. Roy Cooper has made sure we know the "State of Emergency" isn't about a state of emergency.

    Editor Alan Wooten has better thoughts:

• We're in the middle of the summer we couldn't have last year, with outings and festivities back in place. We're meeting and greeting, most of us are back in our houses of worship, and we're returning to some normalcy. ... [W]e're shaking hands, giving hugs and not worrying about the line. We respect the pandemic, and it is not over.
• But fear? Yes, we're leaving that behind. Borrowing from Andy Dufresne in the time-worn classic, it is time "to get busy living."