What a great article. It brought back so many memories of my own childhood and what we experienced with our coal miner dads and a child with too man responsibilities. I live in Wyoming Valley, so everything you talked about hit home. Maybe my age was a factor in not following all of the rules and regulations of the Scamdemic. I remember going for bloodwork, and I had to stop at a desk right inside the entrance of the lab. After registering there, it was a straight shot straight ahead of me to walk to the window to give my insurance information, but the girl at the desk told me I first had to walk way to my left where there was a big circle on the floor and stand in that circle before I walked to the right to the girl behind the window. What????? There was no one around and my feet had to hit that circle before I was allowed to go to the window???? I really thought people had lost their minds.
anyone with 2 working brain cells should know that walking one direction or the other in the walmart will not keep you from getting sick! that sitting or standing does not make any difference for viruses. Why do human brains not register that?
One way walking in the grocery store drove me mad, so I started backing into aisles so that my cart would face the "proper" direction. Sometimes, though, just to mess with people's heads, I'd walk into an aisle as the arrows dictated, but turn my cart around so it faced the "wrong" way. Good times, good times. NOT.
Because I'm kind of a rebel, I always walked down the aisle the "wrong" way and just waited for someone to say something. No one ever did - it wasn't like the "mask madness."
The only guilt I have had about C19 is that I'm ashamed that I didn't realize 40 years ago, just what the Communists in our education system were doing to our children. Disgust is now the more appropriate emotion. Disgust with the overwhelming stupidity displayed by the population, especially here in the US.
BTW, my Mom, passed @ 96 and, like yours, displayed the same long-tern/short-term memory problems, and at 70, I find myself dwelling in the past more and more. Perhaps it's a trailer for the next sequel of my life.
thank you for saying this. There is a lot of disgust in me, too, specially for all those doctors, nurses, and otherwise well educated people, who just brainlessly followed the narrative.
In the last few years I have read through numerous obituaries. I feel like living among the dead at times. At least my name has not been in them LOL. Just checking !
It did hurt so many in so many different ways. My husband and I had our 40th anniversary in 2020. I’d never been to Hawaii and our plan was to go for our anniversary. Needless to say we couldn’t go. In ‘21 my husband was diagnosed with cancer and we never got to go. I know it was a small thing compared to others but I’m so sad that we didn’t get to do that as he passed away last year, but it was a big deal to us. I’ve often thought if this happened to us what other things way worse had happened to others. What they did deprived so many of us of so many life experiences.
For me, the one positive thing that came out of all this I learned was don’t ever trust the government again. They’re not our friends.
It was heartbreaking and I still look back wondering what I could have done to change our situation. But really, there wasn’t anything I could have done.
Stephanie, So sad and there are so many similarly sad stories. I used to believe that the government was 95% bad. I have since revised my percentages to 100%.
Well you know that Hawaii was a particularly restrictive and ‘bad all the way around’ state during the Scamdemic.
When you were planning to go, they were on a strict lockdown, with mask wearing and all the other attendant BS that went along with it. Then as soon as the Jabs came out (end of 2020-2021) Hawaii required ALL visitors to show proof of vaxx status for entry, and pretty much ‘forced’ the majority of Hawaiians to get the Jabs.
IMO that would not have been exactly the ‘perfect romantic anniversary setting’, that you and your husband were thinking about to celebrate your 40th Anniversary! So actually it was a ‘blessing in disguise’. It would have been an awful and dreadful time, to be in the Islands, back then.
I heard, in person, an account from a guy who lived in Hawaii with a wife and three kids under 7. They were required to be inside their tiny apartment for many weeks on end.
Yes that’s what I am referring to…would that have been the kind of vibe or environment to be in for a significant life moment, with one’s partner or husband, for a 40th wedding anniversary? NOT…as I said ‘a blessing in disguise’, masquerading as a Scamdemic!
Boy, that's my main take-away as well: Do NOT trust the government ... or the experts. Or the establishment press. Or the college professors and presidents.
It's hard to find any big organization we can trust. That's what causes my nightmares.
“At various times, we all overvalue and overinvest in some relationships”
Amen to that Mark. Just one of the many lessons I’ve learned over the last four years. I realized that the only thing that kept those relationships alive was the fact that they had been almost lifelong (over 50 years). When life gets really difficult, you find out who your true friends are.
Yes I agree…the so called long term ‘friends’ of 30 plus years, fell by the wayside…how they behaved and reacted showed me that I was the one propping up our friendships for 30 years…my constancy and dedication to our friendship was what kept it going and the minute I wasn’t so ‘agreeable’ and falling in line with the BS, they couldn’t take it. I bailed and haven’t seen or spoken to them in over 4 years! And now I have a whole new group of ‘friends’ who are ‘freedom loving people , (in EVERY way), and are far more interesting and giving of their time and friendship!
Among the things I most appreciate about your writing is that it is always personal and so relatable. Your mom had to make a life-altering choice at only ten years old. What a burden for a child. It reminds me that so much of our conditioning takes place before we are ever aware of it, and the repercussions of these experiences last a lifetime, for better or worse. Guilt and its' companion, obligation, have been used to keep us in line forever. I hope the events of the last four years have wised some of us up.
One of your best. This is evidence that there’s very much more to write about the Covid scam. We’re 80 years past the holocaust and there’s still plenty to write about that and all authoritarian movements, like Covid, that greatly harm the human condition.
Mark, Another great article. And I am coming to believe that with tincture of time, you will discover how many of the stories actually ARE relevant. This one came from a completely unexpected direction and then hit one squarely on the head when one was lulled into full story involvement. Love it.
We learned nothing from the Hitler, or the holocaust. Except the learned to use it as a weapon against freedom fighters, when they are the tyrants. Head-spinning.
Your mom thought that her dad cared about her. But yet, he only came around when her mom died. He was fine not raising her until he was forced to.
It reminds me of the con-vid spectacle. Big pharma and the FDA gave no shits about our health and regularly released and approved pure toxic garbage like vioxx.
Yet, when it came to con-vid, people wanted to feel like pharma gave a shit.
They forgot that crapitalism lead to regulatory capture which lead to pharma releasing dangerous shit, as long as they can make money with a patent.
Like your mom projected good emotions on her dad, people projected good things onto big pharma and the puppets that they own.
Guilt based decisions are manipulated by those who rarely, if ever feel guilt (even if they're caught!)... Psychopaths and sociopaths and their sociopathic corporations and agencies....
Great post and thanks so much for sharing these heart felt, personal stories. And a so true your relating your intimate background with your Mom and family to the genocide we're in and why so many went along with it.
I forgive most, but I will never regret not forgetting the dark underside of our species.
You can read about this stuff in history as much as you want but it's hard to understand until you experience it.
The truth is shocking. And that's why it's being ignored by the normies. God forbid they have to self-examine or experience guilt/shame or regret for their actions....or lack thereof.
They'll avoid it at all costs and the irony of all ironies; their current behavior is proof positive that we would regret it if WE forgot....because they'd do it all again.
I forgive none of them. Their compliance made it all possible. It would have ended in a week if people had disobeyed and gone about their business, and we wouldn't be waiting for another shoe to drop, the first one having fallen so successfully.
I'm retired now but worked for an airline during peak psychopathy in 2020-21. We were required to wear the slave rag in the crew rooms, the crew vans, jumpseating, etc., but could take it off in the cockpit, a rule which, as usual, made zero sense. I wouldn't wear it at all. I spent 8 months in a constant state of readiness to tell any manager who approached me with a request to put it on, "Then I quit." It was extremely stressful and ultimately why I did quit 2 years early, which cost me a lot of money.
Pilots like to preen about what white-collar, college-educated iconoclasts they are, but they couldn't bootlick fast enough. It was disgusting. But individually they were also susceptible to pressure in the reverse: When I just went about my business without the holy rag, the guys who started the work week fetishizing it would soon slack off and by the end of the week the only time they complied was in the hotels. At the end of the 8-week bid period they weren't muzzling even in the crew vans. My point is that if enough people had refused to play along, there would have been a multiplier effect.
You already know how much I love your work -I owe you an email btw- The thing that haunts me the most is how those that went along and condemned, shunned, or otherwise abused the dissenters are mute now. To even try to have a conversation with them about their behavior during the Scandemic is like talking to a brick wall. They should be ashamed of themselves.
It's true that so many are hiding from their Scamdemic conduct. I bring this up every time I see people who I know supported the Scam. But they don't return my e-mails. I think they've blocked me.
I may be close to done writing about the Scam. But NOT done talking about it and wearing my shirt.
That's a scamdemic angle I hadn't seen explored before, at least so explicitly. Needed doing. In discussing the travesty, I make the point that they ALWAYS play the guilt card. People are so gullible to fall for it every time.
Beautifully written story- love hearing about your family. Great that you know so much about them and that your mom remembered so much. There are so many gaps in my family history (and lots of skeletons I am afraid that were never discussed/shared- but I have the broad outline through stories my parents used to tell and I was lucky to have spent quality time with my maternal grandparents. I have no guilt over my behavior or decisions with family members OR during 2020 and beyond. I went with my heart and gut and trusted my common sense, and spoke my mind and am fine with everything. Others close to me made horrible choices and are paying for it now in some way- and I am talking about how they treated others in my family AND 2020 and beyond. Funny how that parallels....thanks for bringing that to my attention.
Poignant story of your mother's great life regret. The difference though, between it and the Covidcaust (I just made that up) is that everyone who complied harmed not only themselves, but all of us and as you point out, future generations to come.
Your story sounds remarkable similar to my mother’s. She was born in the 30s and her father died at a young age from TB . She spent summers with her maternal grandparents in St Louis , which were the best times of her childhood. She shared her dirt floor home with 7 siblings and her stepfather was somewhat of a rascal. Certain times echo certain themes .
Love your phrase- "there was a lot of pain, with no gain"! Well said and true- such a waste of time and energy- seemingly the only thing people realized was grief and misery.
I was sharing some of my life decisions with my son a few years back when he was going thru some rough times- I told him that I had made at least 12 major "bad judgements or decisions" in my life that cost me something- either major regret, relationship destruction, loss of money, etc. Many times our poor decisions and the subsequent recoveries can be used as positive building blocks for others. Most of us go thru tough times- then recover and we're better for it.
Sadly, these last 4 years have seen much loss, with no hope of recovery.
Mark, I don't see how you remember all these stories, but I'm glad you share them with us. So many of them remind me of some of my own experience. Notice you had a lot of baseball players in your family- now we know where you get some of your athletic gifts! Thanks for sharing a piece of your Mom's life- a real blessing.
It's true that we can learn from mistakes. But sometimes, as my Mom used to say, "We grow too soon old and too late smart."
It's good that you got some good use from some of your mistakes. The thing that bothered me most about the Scam is that, unlike most of the bad decisions I've made, this one was a very easy call for those who thought about it even a little. And as Joanie points out above, buying the Scam hurt a lot of other people.
What a great article. It brought back so many memories of my own childhood and what we experienced with our coal miner dads and a child with too man responsibilities. I live in Wyoming Valley, so everything you talked about hit home. Maybe my age was a factor in not following all of the rules and regulations of the Scamdemic. I remember going for bloodwork, and I had to stop at a desk right inside the entrance of the lab. After registering there, it was a straight shot straight ahead of me to walk to the window to give my insurance information, but the girl at the desk told me I first had to walk way to my left where there was a big circle on the floor and stand in that circle before I walked to the right to the girl behind the window. What????? There was no one around and my feet had to hit that circle before I was allowed to go to the window???? I really thought people had lost their minds.
Thanks, Bunny.
People did lose their minds.
anyone with 2 working brain cells should know that walking one direction or the other in the walmart will not keep you from getting sick! that sitting or standing does not make any difference for viruses. Why do human brains not register that?
Everybody was pretending that nobody was pretending.
Us type of folks can not abide that. Life's too short.
Ryan, That is as pithy a summary as I have seen. I shall quote you.
One way walking in the grocery store drove me mad, so I started backing into aisles so that my cart would face the "proper" direction. Sometimes, though, just to mess with people's heads, I'd walk into an aisle as the arrows dictated, but turn my cart around so it faced the "wrong" way. Good times, good times. NOT.
Because I'm kind of a rebel, I always walked down the aisle the "wrong" way and just waited for someone to say something. No one ever did - it wasn't like the "mask madness."
Yes, they did. I've never seen mass lunacy before.
Sounds like she was a caller for a square dance. Or the Hokey Pokey song.
You put your right foot in....
Yeah, now I get it. The song was human obedience training. Probably done by the CIA.
Yep....."and that's what it's all about".....lol
The only guilt I have had about C19 is that I'm ashamed that I didn't realize 40 years ago, just what the Communists in our education system were doing to our children. Disgust is now the more appropriate emotion. Disgust with the overwhelming stupidity displayed by the population, especially here in the US.
BTW, my Mom, passed @ 96 and, like yours, displayed the same long-tern/short-term memory problems, and at 70, I find myself dwelling in the past more and more. Perhaps it's a trailer for the next sequel of my life.
thank you for saying this. There is a lot of disgust in me, too, specially for all those doctors, nurses, and otherwise well educated people, who just brainlessly followed the narrative.
In the last few years I have read through numerous obituaries. I feel like living among the dead at times. At least my name has not been in them LOL. Just checking !
It did hurt so many in so many different ways. My husband and I had our 40th anniversary in 2020. I’d never been to Hawaii and our plan was to go for our anniversary. Needless to say we couldn’t go. In ‘21 my husband was diagnosed with cancer and we never got to go. I know it was a small thing compared to others but I’m so sad that we didn’t get to do that as he passed away last year, but it was a big deal to us. I’ve often thought if this happened to us what other things way worse had happened to others. What they did deprived so many of us of so many life experiences.
For me, the one positive thing that came out of all this I learned was don’t ever trust the government again. They’re not our friends.
This counts as a big loss, Stephanie.
You should have had the chance to share that time in that place.
It was heartbreaking and I still look back wondering what I could have done to change our situation. But really, there wasn’t anything I could have done.
Stephanie, So sad and there are so many similarly sad stories. I used to believe that the government was 95% bad. I have since revised my percentages to 100%.
Well you know that Hawaii was a particularly restrictive and ‘bad all the way around’ state during the Scamdemic.
When you were planning to go, they were on a strict lockdown, with mask wearing and all the other attendant BS that went along with it. Then as soon as the Jabs came out (end of 2020-2021) Hawaii required ALL visitors to show proof of vaxx status for entry, and pretty much ‘forced’ the majority of Hawaiians to get the Jabs.
IMO that would not have been exactly the ‘perfect romantic anniversary setting’, that you and your husband were thinking about to celebrate your 40th Anniversary! So actually it was a ‘blessing in disguise’. It would have been an awful and dreadful time, to be in the Islands, back then.
I heard, in person, an account from a guy who lived in Hawaii with a wife and three kids under 7. They were required to be inside their tiny apartment for many weeks on end.
Yes that’s what I am referring to…would that have been the kind of vibe or environment to be in for a significant life moment, with one’s partner or husband, for a 40th wedding anniversary? NOT…as I said ‘a blessing in disguise’, masquerading as a Scamdemic!
😉🙏🏻🕯️
Boy, that's my main take-away as well: Do NOT trust the government ... or the experts. Or the establishment press. Or the college professors and presidents.
It's hard to find any big organization we can trust. That's what causes my nightmares.
“At various times, we all overvalue and overinvest in some relationships”
Amen to that Mark. Just one of the many lessons I’ve learned over the last four years. I realized that the only thing that kept those relationships alive was the fact that they had been almost lifelong (over 50 years). When life gets really difficult, you find out who your true friends are.
Sadly, they were not the ones I expected.
God separates the wheat from the chaff.
I had the same experience, Laura.
Thank God my wife stayed sane.
Yes I agree…the so called long term ‘friends’ of 30 plus years, fell by the wayside…how they behaved and reacted showed me that I was the one propping up our friendships for 30 years…my constancy and dedication to our friendship was what kept it going and the minute I wasn’t so ‘agreeable’ and falling in line with the BS, they couldn’t take it. I bailed and haven’t seen or spoken to them in over 4 years! And now I have a whole new group of ‘friends’ who are ‘freedom loving people , (in EVERY way), and are far more interesting and giving of their time and friendship!
Frontera - yes! I too have made so many new friends. Friends that lift me up. Friends that I share much more with in so many more meaningful ways. 🥰
Agree! 🙏🏻
Among the things I most appreciate about your writing is that it is always personal and so relatable. Your mom had to make a life-altering choice at only ten years old. What a burden for a child. It reminds me that so much of our conditioning takes place before we are ever aware of it, and the repercussions of these experiences last a lifetime, for better or worse. Guilt and its' companion, obligation, have been used to keep us in line forever. I hope the events of the last four years have wised some of us up.
One of your best. This is evidence that there’s very much more to write about the Covid scam. We’re 80 years past the holocaust and there’s still plenty to write about that and all authoritarian movements, like Covid, that greatly harm the human condition.
I've lived a long time and have memories of many stories.
But they're not all relevant.
Mark, Another great article. And I am coming to believe that with tincture of time, you will discover how many of the stories actually ARE relevant. This one came from a completely unexpected direction and then hit one squarely on the head when one was lulled into full story involvement. Love it.
Thanks, Ralph.
Aside from some stories that aren't relevant, I have a bunch that I won't post on the Net. Everybody else does, too.
Mark, I am sure that is true. But I will bet that you would make compelling points from them if you did...
We want to hear them anyway.
We learned nothing from the Hitler, or the holocaust. Except the learned to use it as a weapon against freedom fighters, when they are the tyrants. Head-spinning.
Your mom thought that her dad cared about her. But yet, he only came around when her mom died. He was fine not raising her until he was forced to.
It reminds me of the con-vid spectacle. Big pharma and the FDA gave no shits about our health and regularly released and approved pure toxic garbage like vioxx.
Yet, when it came to con-vid, people wanted to feel like pharma gave a shit.
They forgot that crapitalism lead to regulatory capture which lead to pharma releasing dangerous shit, as long as they can make money with a patent.
Like your mom projected good emotions on her dad, people projected good things onto big pharma and the puppets that they own.
Guilt based decisions are manipulated by those who rarely, if ever feel guilt (even if they're caught!)... Psychopaths and sociopaths and their sociopathic corporations and agencies....
But people are no longer this naive....
https://robc137.substack.com/p/the-milgram-experiment-and-how-we
What a piece here, Mark. I miss my mom too. It seems to me that men seldom publicly talk about their mothers. Maybe because it goes so deep.
Great post and thanks so much for sharing these heart felt, personal stories. And a so true your relating your intimate background with your Mom and family to the genocide we're in and why so many went along with it.
Don't ever stop writing.
Danny Huckabee
I regret ever having trusted humanity in general.
I forgive most, but I will never regret not forgetting the dark underside of our species.
You can read about this stuff in history as much as you want but it's hard to understand until you experience it.
The truth is shocking. And that's why it's being ignored by the normies. God forbid they have to self-examine or experience guilt/shame or regret for their actions....or lack thereof.
They'll avoid it at all costs and the irony of all ironies; their current behavior is proof positive that we would regret it if WE forgot....because they'd do it all again.
I forgive none of them. Their compliance made it all possible. It would have ended in a week if people had disobeyed and gone about their business, and we wouldn't be waiting for another shoe to drop, the first one having fallen so successfully.
Exactly. It only took 10-15% to resist.
Once they accepted the masks; GAME OVER!
I'm retired now but worked for an airline during peak psychopathy in 2020-21. We were required to wear the slave rag in the crew rooms, the crew vans, jumpseating, etc., but could take it off in the cockpit, a rule which, as usual, made zero sense. I wouldn't wear it at all. I spent 8 months in a constant state of readiness to tell any manager who approached me with a request to put it on, "Then I quit." It was extremely stressful and ultimately why I did quit 2 years early, which cost me a lot of money.
Pilots like to preen about what white-collar, college-educated iconoclasts they are, but they couldn't bootlick fast enough. It was disgusting. But individually they were also susceptible to pressure in the reverse: When I just went about my business without the holy rag, the guys who started the work week fetishizing it would soon slack off and by the end of the week the only time they complied was in the hotels. At the end of the 8-week bid period they weren't muzzling even in the crew vans. My point is that if enough people had refused to play along, there would have been a multiplier effect.
Mark,
You already know how much I love your work -I owe you an email btw- The thing that haunts me the most is how those that went along and condemned, shunned, or otherwise abused the dissenters are mute now. To even try to have a conversation with them about their behavior during the Scandemic is like talking to a brick wall. They should be ashamed of themselves.
Thanks, Ino.
It's true that so many are hiding from their Scamdemic conduct. I bring this up every time I see people who I know supported the Scam. But they don't return my e-mails. I think they've blocked me.
I may be close to done writing about the Scam. But NOT done talking about it and wearing my shirt.
That's a scamdemic angle I hadn't seen explored before, at least so explicitly. Needed doing. In discussing the travesty, I make the point that they ALWAYS play the guilt card. People are so gullible to fall for it every time.
Beautifully written story- love hearing about your family. Great that you know so much about them and that your mom remembered so much. There are so many gaps in my family history (and lots of skeletons I am afraid that were never discussed/shared- but I have the broad outline through stories my parents used to tell and I was lucky to have spent quality time with my maternal grandparents. I have no guilt over my behavior or decisions with family members OR during 2020 and beyond. I went with my heart and gut and trusted my common sense, and spoke my mind and am fine with everything. Others close to me made horrible choices and are paying for it now in some way- and I am talking about how they treated others in my family AND 2020 and beyond. Funny how that parallels....thanks for bringing that to my attention.
Poignant story of your mother's great life regret. The difference though, between it and the Covidcaust (I just made that up) is that everyone who complied harmed not only themselves, but all of us and as you point out, future generations to come.
Really true and important that the panic most fell for hurt many people other than themselves.
🎯
Your story sounds remarkable similar to my mother’s. She was born in the 30s and her father died at a young age from TB . She spent summers with her maternal grandparents in St Louis , which were the best times of her childhood. She shared her dirt floor home with 7 siblings and her stepfather was somewhat of a rascal. Certain times echo certain themes .
Love your phrase- "there was a lot of pain, with no gain"! Well said and true- such a waste of time and energy- seemingly the only thing people realized was grief and misery.
I was sharing some of my life decisions with my son a few years back when he was going thru some rough times- I told him that I had made at least 12 major "bad judgements or decisions" in my life that cost me something- either major regret, relationship destruction, loss of money, etc. Many times our poor decisions and the subsequent recoveries can be used as positive building blocks for others. Most of us go thru tough times- then recover and we're better for it.
Sadly, these last 4 years have seen much loss, with no hope of recovery.
Mark, I don't see how you remember all these stories, but I'm glad you share them with us. So many of them remind me of some of my own experience. Notice you had a lot of baseball players in your family- now we know where you get some of your athletic gifts! Thanks for sharing a piece of your Mom's life- a real blessing.
Thanks, Miike.
It's true that we can learn from mistakes. But sometimes, as my Mom used to say, "We grow too soon old and too late smart."
It's good that you got some good use from some of your mistakes. The thing that bothered me most about the Scam is that, unlike most of the bad decisions I've made, this one was a very easy call for those who thought about it even a little. And as Joanie points out above, buying the Scam hurt a lot of other people.