Well,thanks to places like Florida and
Texas it looks like Loraine and I are going to have a second Europe
trip this year cancelled.
Yippee.
The European Union is finalizing plans
on re-opening the continent to visitors, and in order to
(understandably) keep themselves safe they're putting together a list
of countries from which people should not be allowed. These are
countries that don't have their Covid-19 situation under control,
countries where people are still getting sick, countries where social
distancing is not well practiced.
Guess which country tops that list?
Yup; despite living in a state that
seems to have the Coronavirus under control and despite trying to
stay safe by wearing a mask everywhere we go Loraine and I will be
among the Americans will not be allowed to head into Europe when it
re-opens its borders next month. Now, this could change before we're
scheduled to leave in early September, but based on how cases are
spiraling out of control across a huge swath of the Southern US we're
guessing it's not gonna change. Even though we live over a thousand
miles away we're getting lumped in with Texans and Floridians and
South Carolinians who've decided that wearing a mask and practicing
social distancing goes against, you know, “freedom”.
Geez. Thanks.
On of the criteria by which the EU is
measuring whether or not to allow visitors from a certain area is the
number of new cases per 100,000 people. It has to be roughly equal
to the EU average, which right now is around 2. Where's the US? How
about 107 per 100,000. Admittedly, it's not as bad a Brazil's 180
(which also puts them on the “don't visit” list), but it's still
going to require quite a shift in both public policy and public
sentiment to get that number down.
And both you & I know that ain't
gonna happen any time soon.
The EU will be revising the list every
two weeks so we, like with this spring's cancelled trip to Germany,
still have to go through the motions of getting ready to go, just in
case we do get the thumbs-up. I mean, you know it's not gonna happen
and I know it's not gonna happen, but we still need to get ready on
the (very) off chance that two days before our flight they give us
the thumbs-up.
It was so much fun seeing all the work
I did in April wasted that I'm sure this time around will be a blast,
as well.
As I wrote when this happened in April,
this is a first world problem. It's really not anything I should be
complaining about. After all, people have been suffering and people
have been dying. I just don't get to go on a trip. There is no
comparison between the two. I know that, and I accept that. But
unlike what happened in April, this trip has been cancelled because
some people just don't want to...I dunno, be sensible. Be safe. Be
thoughtful of their fellow human beings.
Thanks, Texas. We appreciate it.
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