Katie Erdman, Editor
You can feel it these days, that people are getting more and more stressed by the situation we are in. I am starting to feel short-tempered and a bit claustrophobic even though I am going to work four days a week. I could not imagine staying home day after day, with the same walls to look at each day.
Perhaps that is why we are starting to receive some rather “testy” phone calls at our office. Just the most minor of things can really set people off and they call with complaints, remarks, and even resort to yelling at us on the phone. This may help them relieve stress but it adds a lot to our stress level.
Everyone is trying their best to do their jobs but mistakes do happen. Some are of no fault of our own while others are just plain oversights or to put it simply, a mistake. Like I said before, we are trying but unfortunate things do happen. We are not and do not profess to be perfect.
I am also hearing that families, husbands and wives, parents and children, are having some trouble emotionally dealing with being constantly together. At first, it was great, but as everyone deals with it in their own way, there are some issues that arise. I hope that there can be understanding, acceptance, and above all, forgiveness.
We all need to get out and do things away from the same people we see each day. We need to be able to talk to other people, face to face, and even get back to work or school. Unfortunately what we need and what we get are going to be two different things.
Now that there is a positive case in Stevens County, the reality of the situation is hitting close to home. In my opinion, this is the time to really stay away from others and avoid situations where we could be exposed. We have been doing this for several weeks already but the virus is now in our midst so we need to use caution.
Even with the cases closing in on us, I think it is time to allow businesses to open up. We can let people decide for themselves if they want to take the chance on exposure by patronizing those businesses. At least it is giving the businesses a fighting chance to survive.
No matter what the future holds, I encourage people to not resort to name-calling, yelling, or complaining about everything. It does not help anybody and even makes the situation worse. Use kind words, encouraging remarks, compliments, and virtual hugs to support each other and help us all get through this stressful time.