You don't get joy from teenagers the way you do from babies. Not that teenagers are especially morose or anything (well, they are, but that's beside my point). They're essentially like any other people: at best reciprocal.
Babies and toddlers are on-demand joy magnifiers (well, other people's babies). If you make faces and noises at babies and toddlers long enough they will laugh and smile. What better Joy than that?
I am excited that my son - who is vaxxed - gets to go back to school Monday for the first time in 16 months. He needs it.
I am worried about the risk. Delta Variant is crazy contagious. It is hard to imagine the school not getting swept with it. Vaxxed, he'll PROBABLY (wtf?) not get seriously ill. Again, wtf?
My son's Physics teacher is a friend of mine. He's the Astronomy Club sponsor. A magnetic young man the kids love. He has a lovely wife and a 3-year old named Isaac who is a precocious delight.
Isaac cannot be vaccinated.
His dad is choosing to return to work. That is great for my son and the other students.
But Mr. Scott has to accept a risk that is much more terrible than it should be because of a political movement - a cynical ploy by a would-be authoritarian.
This damn thing should have been over.
But now I'm risking my son, who is not helpless, and we're all risking Isaac, who is.
We the People... ...promote the general welfare.
Walk the damned walk. Get the damned shot, wear a mask.
Quit risking the lives of the vulnerable for your Romantic Individualism fantasy. This ain't a novel and you aren't the hero.
You're the idiots yelling "Give us Barabbas!"