LETTERS & INTERACTIONS theories), research the possible long-term effects of experiencing a COVID-19 infection, and determine which is the right option for you and your family. But please do read, and make an educated decision when the time is right and the vaccine is made available to you, and if you choose to receive the vaccine, make sure to get your second dose 21 days after your first. I anticipate I will feel more effects after the second dose, and I will follow the asked protocol to report them online. For me, choosing the vaccine felt like the first step back to the life we used to know. I cannot say if there will come a time in the future that we will not need to wear masks and eye protection with each patient encounter we have, but maybe we will see fewer critically ill COVID-19 patients, or even just fewer hospitalized COVID patients overall if the vaccine becomes the
popular choice. All I am offering is that this holiday season has a touch more hope and sense of renewal this year than I’ve noticed before, but it is a fragile hope, much like a small flame from kindling. It will need to be fanned and protected carefully so that it can be shared by everyone, not just healthcare workers. —Katelyn Meyer
Will Trump attend the inauguration?
3.9% Yes
Submitted Dec. 18 MY MOTHER LIVES AT ONE of Iowa’s 430 nursing facilities. While some people choose to gloat about supposed American ingenuity and prosperity, I continue to worry about nearly a third of Iowa’s long-term care facilities having outbreaks of COVID-19. A number healthcare workers have tested
BROCK ABOUT TOWN
96.1% No
AU D R E Y B R O C K
I’ve never understood why people make such a big deal out of the new year. Jan. 1 is a featureless, arbitrary day like any other that exists in the yawning chasm between Christmas and the first day it’s safe to go outside without your parka, and it’s always struck me as a bit naïve to think that the calendar rolling over is going to change anything about your life. However, this year, I completely understand, because this is the year we leave the pungent Dumpster fire that was 2020 behind. Yes, the date is still arbitrary and we’re still in as deep a pile of crap as we were last week, and I’m an irritating millennial who complains about how terrible every year is with no attempt to improve my life whatsoever—all that is true. However, I don’t think the optimism a lot of people are feeling is misplaced. Millions of Americans have received the new coronavirus vaccine, freeing them up to return to making out with strangers in the frozen foods aisle at Target. (Thank God, right?) In less than three weeks, this country will no longer be led by a man who has committed countless offenses against the American people, his reprehensible spray tan displayed on every single news channel for the last five years. Plus, we haven’t heard anything about those murder hornets in a while, so that whole situation must be fine, right? Yeah. That said, some people are getting a little bit ahead of themselves. The other day, I overheard someone talking about the pandemic in the past tense, as in, “Gee, remember that toilet paper shortage during the pandemic? That sure was crazy.” (I backed up an extra six feet, just in case.) It makes me wonder how long it’ll be before the sort of people who write Medium articles about the ethics of making your own sourdough will start releasing pandemic memoirs. I bet you my last box of emergency fallout spaghetti that in two years, we’ll be able to go into any bookstore and find books with titles like Tie-Dye Dreams: How TikTok Trends Saved My Marriage or Mommy Doesn’t Understand Algebra: How to Incorporate Your Day-Drinking into Your Parenting Strategy. The mind practically boggles. 2021 is nigh. I wish you all an overabundance of happiness, to compensate for last year, and good luck in fighting off those gangs of radioactive cannibals. 10 Jan. 6–Feb. 2, 2021 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV290
/LittleVillage READER POLL:
positive at my mom’s nursing home. I am not pleased that our governor relaxed COVID-19 restrictions while the Trump administration cut Iowa’s allotment of vaccine by 30 percent. Why do some Americans fixate on a governor’s not overstepping her authority or infringing on personal rights? People are dying in record numbers, a 9/11 every day! The fact that some place personal ideology over human life saddens me. Succumbing to the deceit and flattery of demagogue permits pride and ideology to trump cold hard reality. I suggest anyone overly concerned with power-drunk leaders volunteer at a nursing home. Maybe then the shade of narcissism and selfishness might lift from your eyes. —Mike Fallon Letter to the editor: It’s time to retire Native mascots in Iowa and beyond (Dec. 9) I agree that we should retire Native tribal mascots. Just the idea of being a mascot is diminishing and using such names and mascots is a reminder to Native Tribes people that they were subjugated by the dominant culture. Imagine, if you will, the outrage that would/should ensue if Afro-American stereotypes were displayed at football games. —Barry B.
