I’m ready to move on from COVID-19, but I’m not quite as ready as some people.

I like to visit restaurants (that’s obvious), and I’m not a fan of wearing masks. I wear one where required only.

From political protests to political rallies and throw in young people doing what young people do in the summer, and we’re being warned that COVID-19 is on a summer comeback tour.

I’m of the opinion we did a lot of damage to this nation by taking the measures we took to fight COVID-19. Some people don’t think we did enough. I talk to small business owners everyday. Some of their livelihoods never will return.

Anybody can get sick from this, and we can get sick from a lot of things. I personally do not want to get sick. Who does? Do I think I’m doing enough to not get COVID-19. Unless someone invades my space, I feel like I’m pretty safe.

I go to work each day. I grocery shop. I spend some family time and hang out with my dogs. I think they’re safe. If this disease were spread by chasing squirrels, I’d be in trouble spending time with these pooches. My wife is working overtime this summer to attract birds to our yard. For every bird, unfortunately, there are 10 squirrels, so I’ve got two pooches constantly on alert.

I’ll admit that while I put on a lot of miles each week, my world is fairly small. But for whatever COVID-19 throws our way, we need to work through it. People over 80 are the most susceptible to having COVID-19 become a life-threatening illness. If I was in that group of people, I don’t think I’d leave the house until this thing is eradicated somehow.

I do agree that serious measures need to be taken, but a lot of it starts with us. Young people are going to hit the bars and party. They need to know they’re taking the risk of getting sick in doing so.

We’re threatening to shut down businesses again. Don’t do it. Our communities are getting back on their feet, and they can’t get knocked back down. Most places I’ve been in have had measures in place to keep patrons safe. I’ll bet that the places that didn’t do that will be now that some of their patrons are becoming sick.

It’s easy for local governments to just crack the whip and shut things down. Those people are paid regardless. If county buildings are closed, that staff is still at full pay. If a business owners doors are closed, they’re fighting to feed their families.

It’s no secret that government buildings have been slowest to reopen. Why throw open the doors before the Fourth of July holiday?

I’ll tell you why: Your communities need you. Sure, keep your offices and your buildings safe. You’ve told everyone else how to do it. Do it yourselves now.

We need to be safe, but we need to keep everything open now also. We need our local economies to be able to rely on their communities for support and not be scared to walk the streets.

Take personal responsibility everybody, and let’s get through this thing.