Today my friend Karol Markowicz posted something on Twitter that really got me in the gut.

I'm tired of people expressing sadness or whatever at every story like this. Get angry about every dead and dying business and demand our elected officials let them open. That's it. https://t.co/cd42tAxnPq

— Karol Markowicz (@karol) December 4, 2020

This is what has been grieving me for more than a few weeks now. I found myself crying at an L.L.Bean commercial the other day, not because it was sappy, but because it infuriated me. I’m sick of sad, sad stories and sad, sad commercials about how we’re all so far apart this year, or our businesses are suffering. I’m with Karol. None of this is sad anymore.

It’s simply infuriating. Stop being sad. Get f***ing mad!

None of this needs to happen this way. Even if you do believe that lockdowns work (they don’t or we wouldn’t be seeing yet another round, but I know logic is difficult for way too many people these days), all the science we have tells us outdoor dining spaces have no impact on COVID transmission. In fact, when L.A. County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl announced they’d be shutting down outdoor dining due to the “danger” of COVID spread, the first thing she did wasn’t to immediately retreat to the safety of her home to wait out the virus. The first thing she did was have one last meal at a Santa Monica restaurant.

Some morons on Twitter wanted to forgive her, saying, “Oh she was just having a last dinner out before lockdowns.”

I shudder at the massive logic deficit in this nation right now. Apparently the virus is only dangerous once lockdown orders start. Before then, it’s no big deal. Only when Kuehl reaches her home and closes her door will the virus invade outdoor dining spaces.

Infuriating is the word that keeps coming to mind, but only because I’ve run out of words to express myself and the utter lack of critical thinking applied to this situation from the fear-porn producing, mainstream media and the thoughtless millions who rely solely on them for information.

I’m with Karol. It’s time to get mad. It isn’t COVID that is doing this to us, it is our leaders. While they enjoy their dinners at The French Laundry and their trips to Mexico, real lives are being destroyed by nonsensical, absurd shutdown orders that follow no pattern, no rhyme, no reason.

If you’d like to join me in my fury, check out this video from a Los Angeles bar owner.

Like every other bar in Los Angeles, The Pineapple Hill Saloon in Sherman Oaks was forced to closed down their last source of income at Christmas – their outdoor patio. That’s already unfair considering that the city can’t even provide proof that contact tracers have traced surges back to restaurants.

Unfortunately, that is not the most enraging thing here. The bar owner posted this emotional video after she was ordered to close down her patio, only to realize that a movie set was opening their outdoor dining patio a mere 50 feet from her closed restaurant. Film productions have COVID waivers through shutdowns. Jimmy Kimmel has a live audience every night and all over Los Angeles hundreds of people are working on film sets every day.

It is hard not to weep with this woman. This is the ultimate insult. She – the very definition of “the little guy”- has lost everything. Then she is forced to stand and watch “the big guy” do the very things she’s being told will kill her customers and lose her the business’s liquor license if she tries to do the same thing.

Is this justice? Is this safety? Is this protection? Is this logical?

No. It’s bulls**t.

And once again, I’d like to reiterate…don’t be sad for this woman. Be mad. Call your reps, call your city council, and live your life the way you want to right now. This is insanity.

Bar owner in Los Angeles CA is livid to see that mayor Garcetti has approved an outdoor dining area for a movie company directly across from her outdoor dining area (which was shut down) pic.twitter.com/jkUP2CWg35

— Jake Coco 💙🇺🇸🎶🐻 (@jakecoco) December 4, 2020