That’s how long we’ve been in a “state of emergency”. Boy are we amazing. We’re crushin’ it! Or are we being crushed?

• 22,032,000 seconds
• 367,200 minutes
• 6120 hours
• 69.7% of the year

We ought to petition the Guinness Book of World records for an entry.

Not this this is actually an emergency. Anyone of us who watched “Emergency!” ought to get that. (Yes… I’m old.)

What’s happening in North Dakota is so ridiculously not an emergency, it should be a joke, but it’s not.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve never had an emergency last more than a few hours. I’ve had my house, or part of it rather, knocked down by a tree. I’ve had my pipes burst and my septic tank flood the basement. None of these emergencies lasted more than a day. Sure there was a lengthy cleanup, but the emergency ended quickly.

That time Grand Forks was flooded and on fire… Now that was an emergency that lasted. According to FEMA it lasted from February 28th to May 24th of 1997, that was 85 days. Is this, Covid-19 experience, like that? Nope. Not even a little.

This? This is not an emergency.

Continuing to allow it to be called an emergency is wrong. If the legislature, who are our employees, followed the law (2) and ended the state of emergency as is their job, then the idea that one man has the power to control the life of every child and adult would end.

Could you still wear your mask and social distance? Yep. Would your neighbor still do the same? Most likely. Prior to the mask mandate we were pretty much all wearing masks and doing our best to be North Dakota Nice anyway. The new normal is not likely to change.

What would change? The power would be transferred back to each adult where it legally belongs instead of being stored in just one or two.

If you decided to hug your child in public, you would be allowed.

If you chose to smile at an infant in your care, you would be allowed. If your child failed to wear their mask correctly, no one would be threatening them with jail time. If your child wants to play a sport, you won’t have to ask for permission from a man you’ve never met and who doesn’t live anywhere near you yet styles himself as a benevolent ruler promising to one day “allow” us to return to our lives… Maybe… As long as he doesn’t change his mind…

You actually have the power to end this, step #1 is realizing it. Step #2 is contacting anyone and everyone you cam think of who holds an elected office in our state and reminding them that you are their employer and that they need to do their job as described in the state constitution. (1)

The power has been in each of our hands for every day since March 13th. For 255 days thus far we’ve let it go. It’s time to stop.

(1) Contact Your Elected Officials:
https://www.legis.nd.gov/assembly/66-2019/members
http://www.post.nd.gov/LawEnforcementAgencies/SheriffsDepartments.html
http://www.ndcca.org/commissioners/

(2) https://www.legis.nd.gov/cencode/t37c17-1.pdf