2020, WTF?

I’ve discussed how my perspective on life drastically changed in the midst of this COVID pandemic, and how I chose to focus my energy on small, joyful moments, rather than dwell on every negative circumstance. So now, you're thinking that I’m ‘Miss Polly Positive' that lives in a fairytale world without any struggles. Wrong. Wrong. WRONG! Let me give you the behind the scenes version of what 2020 has truly been. Brace yourself, Folks!

Let me first start out by asking who pissed in 2020’s Cheerios? And I’m not even kidding. Like what happened? Did I miss something? All I know, in the words of Mr. Garvey, "you done messed up A-ARON". Where all my 2019 haters at? Asking for a friend. It wasn’t so bad after all, was it?

In all seriousness (if that’s even possible for me), I’m not one to wish away days, or even years, but 2020 can go to hell! I’m over it—so over it. Just like you and everyone else, I was excited to ring in the New Year. It’s always a time in which I look back with thanks and look forward to new opportunities. The year looked bright and promising—at least for the first two months. Then all of a sudden in March, 2020 took a giant shit on us.

The reason—well, it remains unclear. Still 8 months later we are asking ourselves that silly question. WHY? Ahh—it’s an election year. No, it’s not that. It’s the start of a new decade. Nope, don’t think that’s it. Maybe we needed a test—to see how we might deal with adversity? If that’s truly the case, I think we have failed miserably. We have literally resorted to fighting another human being over a roll of toilet paper. 2020 has to go down in history as the shittiest year ever. No pun intended. At least in my book, it is. No one really knows why this year has been what it is, but I’m sure there are many theories floating around—but save them for someone else.

Let’s read some of the actual highlight reel, shall we?

A global pandemic LITERALLY shutdown the world. Who would ever think we would be forced to stay at home? In America—you know, the land of the free?? Nope, not right now. Ain’t nobody got time for that. Our democracy went straight dictatorship overnight. Red state, blue state. Didn’t matter. You were shutdown. Oh, and the constant fear tactics backed by evidence that was changing on the fly. They got the best of us. They still are, so many months later.

Here’s a flashback of my COVID journal from a time back in March—the month that never ended.

"Today is Saturday, March 14, 2020. This weekend should be my last weekend of freedom as spring sports are in full bloom beginning next week. It should be a time to relax, soak up some family time with the hubby and pups before the madness of high school sports begins again. But it’s different this year. We, as in the world, are in the midst of a pandemic that’s been lurking around since January, December even. Coronavirus (COVID-19). What in the world is that? For the past couple of weeks, we joked and said that Tequila was the cure. In reality, we knew nothing about it and certainly had no idea what was coming for us. The story must have changed a 1,000 times, but we understood that someone in China ate a bat and then contracted this virus. Really? Sounds strange to me. It’s eons away— in China. We have nothing to worry about—or so we thought. This virus has taken the world by storm, one country at a time. The US would not be immune! This past week felt weird. Things are different. Talks about closing schools for a couple weeks out of an abundance of caution. It seems like overkill, overreaction. In Kentucky? That’s crazy. The virus is in China. So many emotions right now. I don't even know what to think. I am just accepting this demanded two-week vacation."

Yeah, well that two-week vacation landed me a spot in unemployment! Woohoo—go me! Bucket list item? Hah. No, but I can check it off the list anyways. Guys, I didn’t even know how to apply for unemployment. Glad I finally figured it out because I was out of my career until September. SIX MONTHS! (side note, I’m now fighting with unemployment about being unemployed—seriously?)

Then while struggling with emotions and everything in between, we felt the need to hoard essential items. Like a bunch of savages! No one cared about the next person or the next family. The last time I saw something like this, was the whole Y2K scam? Remember that back in 2000, when the world was supposed to end. Suckers! Not surprising that 20 years later—we are still freaking the hell out.

It took us almost a month to secure toilet paper and I’m not even exaggerating. Now that’s a story worth passing down. One of my happiest days in 2020—April 3rd; the day I got my hands on some toilet paper, after being corralled like cattle, in a single file line at Costco. Don’t worry, I had to stand in line for half the day to get it. Lettuce started looking better and better with each passing day. Cheaper too! Listen, you know times are rough when there is a toilet paper shortage. But I didn’t understand it. The virus didn’t even cause diarrhea, at least that’s what we were told anyways. It was just people panic buying. Ridiculousness is what it was! But, brace yourselves, I think panic buying will ensue again in the coming weeks.

Once we were over the toilet paper shenanigans (but are we really?), we moved on to more serious things—like killing each other and burning our cities to the ground. Because that’s fun, right? Yeah, that next level escalated real quick. Police brutality was brought into light again. Then Black Lives Matter came with a vengeance. Next thing I know, we were forced to pick a side; and judged hardcore based on our selection. You couldn’t support both though—it had to be one or the other, like some gang. THIS IS NOT A JOKE! If you made mention of supporting police, you are deemed racist. If you are white and did not outwardly speak up and out, you are racist. Only in America. I kept my mouth shut because I’m a dual supporter and apparently that’s not acceptable. Sue me for being a mind of reason, I guess.

Next, while we were still struggling with literally EVERYTHING at this point, the 'fake news' media reported that murder hornets were on the loose in our country. WOW—are we doing awesome or what?! These things are large enough to fly off with a small child or dog. And apparently their venom is lethal. Fantastic. We are in for a real treat this year. “Welcome to 2020—you’re either gonna die of COVID, by the police or a murder hornet. Take your pick.” Oh boy, what to choose?

I think things maybe started to calm down sometime towards the end of summer. Hah—who was I kidding? 2020 was on a mission to kill us one way or another. Next issue—selecting a president. Kind of a big deal around here. I did mention it’s an election year, right? And not just any election year. This has been the most heated election I’ve ever had the right to vote in. But then election day ended and we didn’t have a president to announce. We waited and watched well into the wee hours of the morning—crickets chirping. As I write this, it’s been over a week since the election—and they’re still counting ballots in some states. How the hell are there still uncounted ballots at this point? I’m not suggesting that cheating or fraud has occurred, but rather that people need to learn to count faster. Don’t worry Pennsylvania, Big Bird is on the way to help you count! This is insane. At this point, I don’t even care who wins. A win for me is making it out of 2020 alive. And that is yet to be determined!

This past year has sucked. It’s no secret. If you’ve enjoyed it, you’re lying. Or you’re just better than the rest of us, at hiding the fear and stress that prevailed every day. Were there small, minuscule moments, that brought joy and happiness throughout the year? Sure, but they were mostly underwhelming—all things considered. And for me, all that time unemployed helped me pursue my dream, yet I would still say that 2020 won, by a large margin. It has totally gotten the best of most of us.

More shit happened, but you get that 2020 sucked, so I’ll end this by giving you a fun and light-hearted takeaway. I work with high school kids who are goofy, awkward and hilarious all in one. They come up with words and phrases to describe things—almost like it’s their own language. Some of my favorites have been, “you’re butt hurt”, “I’m bodied”, and “that’s D1”. Maybe they’re onto something? With that being said, I have decided to come up with my own line. Get excited! When something is shitty, like real shitty, I say, “that’s so 2020!” You heard it from me first. You're welcome. And you may use when appropriate.

But seriously 2020, WTF? I’ve had enough. I’m out.