My daughter and our neighbor are launching a cheer camp. Elysha and I found a sign taped to the door last week.
Brilliant. Right?
Seeing “Social distancing will happen” and “Masks are required” on their sign were good reminders of how simple and easily understandable these pandemic mitigation strategies are.
Even little girls designing pretend cheer camps can enforce these measures. You need to be an idiot, a monster, or a selfish prick (or perhaps some combination of the three) to reject these simple, scientifically proven strategies for reducing infection, protecting your fellow citizens, and saving lives.
Also note the small, tear-away tabs at the bottom of the sign that read “Cheer camp tab.”
Not a lot of information there.
Later in the week, we found cheer camp permission slips signed by parents in the neighborhood and medical waivers.
Then pom-poms arrived in the mail. I’m assuming Elysha purchased these, but based upon the permission slips and medical waivers, I’m starting to wonder.
I was teaching for much of yesterday, so I’m not sure if cheer camp actually began as promised on the sign, but I suspect that Rosh Hashanah may have interfered with their planned launch. I don’t blame them if it did. It’s almost impossible to keep track of the Jewish holidays because the Gregorian calendar and the Jewish calendar are not exactly copacetic.
In fact, I’d argue that the people most likely to know the date of next year’s Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur are the people married to someone who is Jewish but are not Jewish themselves. Spouses like me live in mortal fear of scheduling something important and permanent on a sacred Jewish holiday, even though our Jewish spouses probably can’t identify the month that next year’s Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur are happening until they are a couple months away.
Early and mid-September for next year’s holidays. But the following year they shift to late September and early October.
Mark your calendars now, people. You’ve been warned.
Either way, I’ll be keeping a watchful eye for the launch of cheer camp.
The fact that my daughter and friend are launching a cheer camp in the midst of a global pandemic seems very apropos. We could all use a little more cheer in this world right now, and what better source could there possibly be than a couple little girls, pom-poms in hand, teaching the neighborhood kids how to cheer?
A good rule of thumb is that whenever you need a boost in spirit, it’s always a good idea to look to kids for inspiration.
Actually, even a well placed, well designed sign on your front door can do the trick, too.
