When my ukulele group played for the last time at the West Seattle Senior Center in early 2020, no one imagined the changes ahead. A few months, surely, and things would be back to normal.
In good news, the Senior Center is open again, proof of vaccination and masks required to enter. The place still feels like a shadow of its once vibrant self, but at least some of the old programs and classes are coming back, including the weekly ukulele sing-a-long.
There were just a handful of us yesterday, seriously out of practice but giving the old songs our best. It was almost like going back to square one. When I first started going to The Ukes 6 years ago, the core group was about 10 people and over the years grew to about 40 players. Fun times we thought would go on forever.
Time will tell how the group evolves and rebuilds. If it does. Some folks will never be back. Pandemic aside, the difficulty of getting to West Seattle and the elimination of the free parking lots makes it much harder for people to attend.
We met in the large dining room because the popular hot lunch program is still cancelled. So there was space to spread out and we dutifully wore our masks, except for 3 people (including our leader) who thought it was OK to wear them under their chins and pull them up if someone from the Center walked by. How annoying. Since we're basically guests at the Center, ignoring their rules was rude, to say the least.
Not only rude, but selfish. People don't think about what that kind of behavior says about them -- It broadcasts loud and clear that they are the kind of people who put their own personal comfort over the health and safety of others.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right. Thanks WOL as always for commenting.
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