People are getting excited about the taste of normal that's trying to slowly inch its way back into their lives and, when it comes right down to it, who can really blame them?
We can. That's who. And we darn well should be doing so before a cheque is written that we have almost no hope in hell of ever cashing.
It's been a long, tough battle against a very stubborn foe in the war against Covid-19, and the voice of caution is now being shouted down more and more as people want to embrace even the tiniest of the creature comforts trying to make their way back into their daily lives.
And this despite the disaster we've seen south of our border with eased-to-nonexistent restrictions, and the mounting evidence in hotspots around the globe that the virus is gearing itself up to unleash a second wave upon a human populace that barely came to grips with the deadly reality of the first wave.
Make no mistake about it, the vampire's greatest strength is disbelief, and a growing number of humans are willing to risk everything to prove that point correct.
And one doesn't have to focus solely on this pandemic to garner further proof in making this point.
At the risk of picking on our southern neighbours to a fault – and, c'mon, they deserve it with the behavioral patterns they've put on full display to the global community during this pandemic – the same societal fault lines arming Covid-19 with another round's worth of razor-sharp teeth are also setting that country up for another costly lesson in making the same mistake twice through the act of simply wishing for something to be true.
The same types of polls leading up to the 2016 national election in the United States that predicted Hillary Clinton's one-sided win over one Mr. Donald J. Trump are now coughing-up almost identical numbers in Joe Biden's favour, as CNN can hardly retain its glee in trumpeting, “We told you so!” four years too late to anyone still gullible enough to actually listen and believe.
And humans seem to be especially gullible these days.
After all, the 'smart money' says Trump couldn't possibly take swing state Wisconsin again and Biden is eyeing an ever-expanding battleground map.
Apparently the smart money didn't get the memo on who will agree to be polled and who will not.
About this time four years ago I was about to be drummed out of the informed-media corps for going on the record as saying I could see Trump winning this thing.
And now, throw in that pandemic inconvenience and the stakes couldn't possibly be much higher.
To that end, I will not make the same mistake again and tempt the fates by allowing myself to think out loud.
Suffice to say, I have reasons to believe in vampires this time around as I whisper to myself, “Be afraid. Be very afraid.”
Food for thought.