The Chief of The Dunces

 So here we are, still dealing with the plague. Something that should have been just a terrible memory continues to infiltrate our lives -- because of a confederacy of dunces convinced the infectious is somehow the political.

My family and I took a risk Saturday night, although we're all fully vaxxed -- attended a wedding with 40 people. I'm getting my first Covid test tomorrow am since last December, and hoping it's negative. If not, I'm not scared my family or I will die, or even need the hospital, but may be in for a few days of unpleasantness. Hopefully the proteins on the report go the correct way.

But Covid has cost me a friendship -- probably one doomed to end anyway, on account of gross stupidity. I met Rob through Mike back in the 80s -- Rob's parents were close with Mike's parents. He was married to Becky, who he had met at their Christian Scientist college. Rob's Dad had a very successful insurance agency, and Rob took it over -- the classic nice, Republican country club gig of being born on third base and thinking you hit a triple.

Rob and  Becky had 2 boys, and we'd often socialize at birthday parties and most importantly, Canes games -- both here and on trips. We'd laugh -- a lot. Rob has an outsized funny personality.

Well -- Rob ended up sort of running the agency down a bit, but sold it, and began a series of mostly failed marketing businesses. He should have kept the agency. He divorced Becky, who moved to Texas, and the boys got older -- the oldest started and dropped out of college to become an artist. The younger went to Texas with Mom.

Rob's politics were wildly conservative, which I found amusing, but in the Trump years got stupider and stupider. Our FaceBook debates were funny -- my educated mostly Dem friends saying, essentially, "who IS this idiot guy?" and I'd explain he was misguided but well meaning. His friends, a seeming cast of Fox news fans, always ridiculed my posts, too, and I actually enjoyed the nice detours away from my usual band of correct thinking, educated people.

Before he left Miami, Rob had a delightful girlfriend, who worked for him at his agency. She was lovely and educated, with a young son. Their dynamic was out of "Modern Family," as the young man, Matteo, was VERY smart, like Manny on the show, and Rob was the affable older gringo while Monica, without the accent, was the smart one. They broke up, with Monica later telling us Rob was in fact one of the stupidest men she ever knew -- NEVER read a book -- just parroted back whatever Hannity type stuff was running that night on Fox. She moved to Colorado. He moved first to Atlanta, and then to Martin County, ostensibly to care for his aging mother, but quite possibly because he didn't have the money to live on his own.

Still -- we enjoyed each other's company -- met in Orlando when the Canes played the Gators -- I got him a ticket -- and we laughed together, a lot.

Then, in June, all of the invitees to Mike's boy Chris and Rachel's engagement party, got an email, asking those not vaxxed to get a Covid test, as this was the first large party any of us attended, and there would be elderly, immunocompromised, and just plain Covid anxious guests (like me) in attendance.

We arrived, and it was delightful. Like Gloria Estefan's song "Coming Our of the Dark" we were at a regular, large party, knowing we were all either vaxxed or Covid tested negative, and we drank, and hugged, and caught up.

Wifey and I spent a lot of time with Rob -- telling him about her stroke and its recovery, and looking forward to new Canes games adventures. Rob asked me to use my Cane Club to buy him tickets to Alabama v. Canes in Atlanta in September. Rob hugged Loni's elderly Mom, and was his charming, gracious self with all the guests.

Then came 3 days ago. He posted on FB that he was sick, and all of his symptoms were Covid-like. I said he'd be fine -- we normal vaxxed might have a few bad days, but that was it. He answered that he NEVER had a vaccine, and never would, as it was Big Pharma poisoning us for profit. And then he asked for prayer and luck as he was getting his FIRST EVER Covid test.

Now wait a minute. How was that possible. He must have had one back in June, to comply with the request of the party hosts, to render him safe for folks like Wifey and me to hang so closely with him. Nah -- he replied -- he never bothered, as he never really BELIEVED in Covid -- he just cavalierly came to the party.

I hit the roof. It was the most selfish, ignorant plus arrogant thing ever. I immediately told him it was the end of our friendship -- especially after he made a "hey -- if I killed your wife with the Kung Flu, I'd have done you a favor."

The moronic politics had crossed over into moronic action. And it's adios to Rob.

Mike's sister Jeannine sort of tried to defend him -- don't we GET vaxxed because we can't trust the morality of others? Of course -- but strangers are strangers. Once a friend or acquaintance violates that trust, like Michael in II -- he's dead to me.

So hopefully things go well tomorrow. Regardless, I plan to rachet down normal activities for awhile. Mirta and I had plans tonight to celebrate my birthday late -- at Titanic. We agreed to put it off until this latest surge subsides.

If Rob and his fellow confederacy of dunces didn't mess this up, we'd be out of the dark already. 

So adios, Rob. Float on in your fog of idiocy. I was ok with that. I'm NOT okay with your fog of treachery.