The Day I Turned Into a Crotchety Old Woman

I have officially turned into a crotchety old woman.

The other day, I reprimanded a large group of mask-less teenagers running on the Greenbelt. These kids were not attempting to social distance from other runners (or, more importantly, from the elderly folks who walk that stretch).

These young runners took up the entire path. They did not move over when passing people.

Fun fact: Running single file is considered good trail etiquette even when not in the midst of a global pandemic.

They were talking and giggling, spraying their gross droplets all over the place.

I probably wouldn't have said anything, but the blonde, giggly one jogged up next to me (definitely closer than six feet) and said, "Oh, hey lady, again!"

That was annoying . . .

"You should be wearing a mask," was my response to her greeting.

I was met with silence.

". . . with the number of people in your group."

"Oh," one of the teens replied timidly.

I kept jogging beside them.

"Are you with a school?" I asked.

"Yeah," another girl answered.

"What school is that?"

It turns out they attend Meridian Medical Arts Charter School.

Out of all the schools in the Valley, I would think a so-called "medical school" should be the one promoting safe practices. And was this really a school-sanctioned activity? The school district I work for isn't holding summer sports practices, indoor or outdoor.

"I feel kind of bad though," I told my husband, Dan, when I got home.

"They deserved it," he said.

"But I went off on a bunch of minors. They're just kids."

"I'm sure you used your teacher voice. That's not mean," he assured me.

I did use my teacher voice! I still got it, even though I've been out of practice for a few months . . .

To their credit, after I scolded them, they didn't talk back or argue. I think the crazy woman in the music mask threw them off.

On a positive note, I ran seven miles because I zoned out, thinking about what I could say if I decided to contact the school, which I didn't.

I put them in my blog instead.

"But, Becky, you were outside, in the sunshine. Why were you wearing a mask?" I can hear a certain segment of my friends saying.

The Boise mask mandate asks people to wear masks outside when we can't social distance. A lot of the path is not six feet wide, especially when ten teenage girls are running side-by-side down the Greenbelt.

(One of our local columnists recently wrote about his experience following the outdoor mask mandate, and I was like, "Wait! I was going to write that blog!")

The mask mandate has since been extended to all of Ada County, and Meridian Medical Arts Charter happened to be handing out free masks the other day. Maybe all of those teenagers have masks now.

I like covering my face. I no longer feel obligated to acknowledge people on the Greenbelt. Most of the time, I pretend like I don't see them.

If they aren't wearing a mask, I very pointedly look the opposite direction and ignore them, not wanting any of their potential COVID to wash over me.

"That is very passive aggressive of you," Dan has told me.

Well, I can either be passive aggressive or a crotchety old woman. I wonder which one will show up next time.

Please excuse the punctuation in the above image, but I liked the sentiment. Ugh. Memes.

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