Call me crazy, but the shelter-in-place order was signed so that people could stay home, right?. Social distancing is being bashed into my head on an hourly basis.

“Flatten the curve,” they say.

The only reason we’re supposed to be leaving is for essential reasons like going to the grocery store, and even then people are stocking up so a lot of people don’t even have to leave for that reason. But riddle me this. They can go to the beach. 

Yes, you read that correctly. Georgia’s shelter-in-place order has effectively reopened the beaches. Why? In what world, universe, does that make ANY sense? 

We’re told that being caught anywhere non-essential to survival could result in a hefty fine or even jail time……but the beaches are open? Is that the exception? 

Every time I say it, you can just see the question marks all over my face. Apparently, it’s because people need exercise, and I get that. That’s why I’ve been doing yoga in my room. I don’t need to go outside to exercise. 

And if you want people to exercise so badly, why not open the gym? They harbor too many germs right? So what makes the beach any better. 

There are so many alternatives to the beach. You can exercise at home. You can exercise in your backyard. If you’re feeling adventurous, you could ride a bike through the neighborhood and shower vigorously after. But the beach? I just can’t wrap my head around it. 

This says to me that going to the beach is safer than going to the gym. Is that what Governor Brian Kemp is telling us? Also, it’s pure psychological torture. The weather has been beautiful since I’ve started to self-quarantine. 

Some might say, myself included, that it’s the perfect beach weather. And now the beaches are open, so I can actually go. But what would I or anyone else gain from that? 

If I was dumb enough to actually go to the beach right now, I wouldn’t even be able to enjoy it, because I’d be so paranoid and terrified of contracting the virus. Tybee Island Mayor Shirley Sessions actually has some sense and has reached out to state officials to reverse the reopening of the beaches and they’re refusing. 

For me, what it all boils down to is if we actually want to stop the virus, we have got to start being smarter and taking matters into our own sanitized hands. The hands that we’re in seem to care more about pointless beach exercise than the well being of us as people. Please stay home and stay safe.