(May 10, 2021, 4:45 p.m.) -- Sign of the Times I: I'm seated in the Blair Field stands last Friday afternoon taking in the Wilson High-Cabrillo High baseball game with perhaps another 75 or so individuals, and, lo and behold, during an early between inning break, a gentleman strolled slowly around the park sternly warning those brazen enough not to be wearing masks to immediately do so or the consequences would be dire.
"This game will be stopped immediately and not be resumed until everyone is wearing a mask, I'm sorry to say," he said.
Well, since it's been pretty well established by an overwhelming majority of Coronavirus experts that wearing masks outside now is a needless, if not irritating encumbrance in light of widespread vaccinations and the dramatic recent decline of Covid-19 in America---much to the disappointment of those politicians so heavily invested in it---the scene was quite sadly comical.
I mean, here you have 75 or so people---with about, oh, 65 of them not having coverings on their faces---in a structure that can hold 3,238 being told to go into their Lone Ranger mode, or the activity they were witnessing would be immediately halted.
Why? Were we all in danger of getting Coronavirus if we didn't, or at least spreading it?
I recently watched a baseball game across the street from Blair Field at Wilson High between the Bruins and the Canyon High, and no one marched in front of the stands demanding the 20 or 30 people present to don masks, even though only a few did.
So why the differences in enforcement?
Is Skip Rowland Field at Wilson somehow a safer venue than Blair Field?
Of course not.
The latter is operated by the City of Long Beach, which has its own Health Department led by its Smith College/Duke-educated czar, Kelly Colopy, and which therefore continues to enforce some of the most stringent Coronavirus rules in the country even though most are farcically nonsensical.
Well, anyway, we all dutifully dug deep into our pockets last Friday afternoon to retrieve our masks and, blessedly, the game was able to reach its seven-inning conclusion.
Sign of the Times II: I actually see human beings in their cars with the windows rolled up wearing masks.
Which of course begs the question, do these cautious folk wear their beloved masks when they're at home and also when they go to sleep at night?
Sign of the Times III: Starting this week, Long Beach high school students have been given a pick-and-choose option about remaining at home taking virtual on-line instruction, or attending school in person.
Wow!
That's certainly a nice option to have, especially for those kids with an abhorrence of studying who understandably prefer to take their tests in the comfort of their homes with open textbooks by their sides.
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