My Wish List for 2021

I want the vaccine. I want YOU to get the vaccine. And I want it to be safe and effective.

I want safe and effective treatments for COVID that don’t require you to be a government official with access to the best, government-paid health care to get them.

I want more compassion and empathy for everyone and less animosity.

I want people to stop getting COVID and to stop engaging in behaviors that make it more likely that they will get COVID and spread it to people like me, who have assiduously followed all of the recommendations to stay safe and healthy.

I want to see health care workers, people in nursing homes and other essential workers move to the head of the line for the vaccine, ahead of the politicians who claimed that COVID was a hoax.

I want everyone to remember how many people died in this pandemic, even the people who chose to ignore it.

I want health care workers to get a break. The pressure on them has been unrelenting. 

I want heath care workers to have all of the supplies they need to stay safe while saving lives.

I want to lose the weight I gained in quarantine – and the weight I was supposed to lose before the quarantine.

I want the “Karens” of the world to see themselves on video and think about the example their behavior sets for their children and grandchildren and how it affects our society.

I want to see restaurants and small businesses be able to again open their doors, pay their employees, make money and serve the community.

I want law enforcement personnel to do their work safely and effectively without singling out Black people or people of color for the harshest and sometimes fatal treatment.

I want equality for all people because all lives can’t matter unless Black Lives Matter.

I want to better understand the restrictions people who don’t look like me have and how they have to constantly “code switch” their behavior to fit in to a world that caters to white people, and what I can personally do to make it better.

I want kids to be able to go out and play and have other kids over and fall down and get up on the playground again.

I want the immigrant children separated from their families to be reunited with their parents. 

I want to be able to go outside without the need to wear a mask. But I will continue to wash my hands better and more often, a lesson learned this year.

I want teachers recognized as the heroes they are and to get their proper respect and better pay.

I want people on social media to stop portraying themselves as Constitutional scholars or epidemiologists.

I want us all to listen to medical and scientific experts and not charlatans who have something to gain for giving their “advice.”

I want the My Pillow Guy to go back to selling pillows and not COVID cures. Not that I’d buy either from him.

I want to make reservations for dinner, not for takeout, and sit at a table with friends. I do not want to eat alone.

I want to eat dinner without having to clean up after myself.

I want to be with my friends, to spend time and laugh and hug and hang out and just be friends again. Zoom can't replicate the feeling of being with the people I truly care about.

I want to stop stockpiling toilet paper, paper towels and napkins for fear they won’t be available.

I want to stop doing food inventory and deciding whether to adopt a LIFO or FIFO policy in managing my pantry and freezer.

I want to do things on the spur of the moment.

I want to see Broadway shows and concerts and sporting events live and in person, with lots of cheering and high-fives.

I want to go to the movies.

I want to go to a store and wander around aimlessly. And I want to be able to try on clothes.

I want to get my hair cut when I actually need a haircut and not out of fear of an impending lockdown.

I want to go to the nail salon.

I want the government to be honest and do the right thing, putting the rights and safety of the people first.

I want to stop all the acrimony that this year has resulted in the end of relationships and friendships because of divergent points of view.

I want the government officials who have profited illegally from the pandemic to be brought to justice.

I want to see justice served on those in power who squandered their responsibilities and put themselves first.

I want to see the Rutgers Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams stay safe and healthy and win National Championships for the first time.

I want to see and hug my best friend for such a long time that it will be really awkward when we finally let go.

I want to understand how I can be a better person and make the world a better place.

I want this nightmare to be over and I want good health for everyone.

I want the vaccine.