Epilogue (to 2021)
Well, we did it. We’ve reached the end of a very long, very trying and extremely exhausting 2021.
“So this is the new year, and I don't feel any different” - Death Cab for Cutie
Well, we did it. We’ve reached the end of a very long, very trying and extremely exhausting 2021.
Congratulations, I guess.
Usually, this is when we celebrate and toast to all the good times we’ve had, and I should say here that we should still celebrate these. The big and the small. Celebrate wherever we can.
I’ll say this though, celebrating the end of 2021 as we enter 2022 is kinda like celebrating a 3rd place finish while beating an opponent that wasn’t even qualified for competition to begin with. Yes, we get a medal and it’s something to be proud of, but it really wasn’t our best effort. We could have done better.
Thinking back to when we entered 2020, we were so excited to leave 2019 behind. We felt so good, so ready. We were giddy. I’m pretty sure I said something cliche like, “2020 is gonna be MY year”. You can go ahead and blame me, I cursed that year with stupid chatter.
The euphoria of a new decade lasted what, 2 months? Then, when we left 2020, we were just relieved to have survived it. We limped to the end of it, maybe even crawled. I mean, it really was a shitshow.
So what was 2021 then?
Well for starters, rioters tried to overthrow the government just six days into the new year. Do you remember that? Kicking off the new year with an insurrection kinda set the tone for the year, don’t you think?
And yet, our response seems to be a loud, “ho-hum, somebody should do something about that, someday”. It really is irrelevant where you sit on the political landscape, our democracy should be fought for, not against.
Anyway, remember when Donald Trump was impeached for the second time? That was this year, not eleventybillion years ago, which is what it seems. That meme of Bernie Sanders curmudgeonly sitting crossed legged at the inauguration? This year. Like I said, it’s been a long year.
Speaking of a long year, Covid-19 continues to kick our ass, but what is remarkable is that there are things everyone could be doing to minimize the threat. But somehow, we continue in this ridiculousness because, why not? I guess.
Americans have proven to be frighteningly selfish and well, foolish.
Listen, I get that everyone has their own decisions to make about their own care, I do. I’m pretty passionate about that actually. I’m pretty open-minded and I like to hear opposing views. We get lost in the weeds though, when we ignore the well-being of others because we’ve done our own “research” and because renowned immunologist Joe Rogan endorsed ivermectin.
Guys, even freaking Donald Trump is out there begging people to get vaccinated. If you had that on your 2021 bingo card, you win.
Democrats took the White House, the Senate AND the House in 2021 yet have somehow forgotten that all means. It seems like they took a page out of the Republican playbook in actually not accomplishing enough of their agenda. Progressives and moderates are fighting and Joe Manchin has torpedoed the entire party. At least Republicans can stick together even if it means doing absolutely nothing, I guess unless you actually vote for things that a Democrat supports, then you’re a traitor, apparently.
Now gas prices have jumped, inflation has set in and we’ve had tornados in December and snow in Hawaii. It’s truly been a wild ride.
Don’t care about politics (don’t blame you anymore)?
What a weird year. For real.
Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie.
Harry and Meghan spilled their story to Oprah.
Kyle Rittenhouse.
More school shootings with more inaction.
Trump was banned from Twitter (sorry, more politics).
Derek Chauvin was convicted this year. That’s a good thing that happened. I don’t want to celebrate that too much, because justice being served should be the norm, not an aberration.
My Chicago Cubs tore down what remained of their 2016 Wold Series championship team, the Chicago Bears still suck but the Chicago Bulls are good again. Maybe the best part of 2021… my beloved Michigan Wolverines beat O**O.
My fandom has been a roller-coaster this year, to say the least.
It’ll be a new year - what will be different?
We always have high hopes for new beginnings, even if it’s just the flipping of the calendar into the next year. It’s possible that the past couple of years have muted our enthusiasm for what’s upcoming.
I’m cautiously optimistic.
Perhaps this will be the year that we put Covid-19 in our rearview mirror.
Maybe we will see Congress pass a bill that addresses our nations crumbling infrastructure.
It could happen that we won’t see our Capitol under siege from domestic terrorists looking to wreak havoc on our democracy. That would be nice.
LeBron James just turned 37, could 2022 be the year he stops playing like he’s 27? Man is a freak of nature.
Will the University of Michigan football program add 2022 onto their mantle of national championships?
Maybe this will be the year that more Americans start seeing climate change as the threat it actually is.
We all have our own hopes, our resolutions for the coming year. Wouldn’t it be nice if we saw some of them come true? Hey, it could happen!