One Year Later

One year ago today our governor declared a civil state of emergency due to the Covid 19 outbreak.

A year ago I was working for a small nonprofit community service center and we were about to hold one of the year's major events - the largest post-season basketball tournament in the state. Among other roles I had for the organization, I was the youth sports director and was about to put in three twelve hour days helping to run the tournament. Over 80 teams from around the state would be playing in five venues across the island, and the gate receipts and concession sales were a significant fund raiser for us. Everything had already been purchased and was ready to go, including hundreds of  t-shirts for all the participants. 

The tournament was cancelled the day before it was due to start, which was a controversial decision at the time. In retrospect there's little doubt in my mind it could have been a major super spreader event and cost lives.

Two months later I left the organization, in part over a disagreement with the way staff were being pressured to resume programming without adequate safety measures in place. Among other things, I realized it was time to get back into a union. 

The job I have now has some challenges and a steep learning curve, but it also has a community of supportive professionals and room for personal growth.

Today, one year after we went into our initial shutdown, I got my first dose of the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine.

I have yet to wear the t-shirt from that tournament which never took place.