WHEN IS ENOUGH ENOUGH?

Weeks before the coronavirus pandemic hit, the title for a blog post "When is Enough Enough?" came to mind. In light of the current world climate, enough is enough rings loud and clear. While browsing through sale items online from Sadie's, a trendy local boutique, I froze at the sight of a brightly colored orange T-shirt. Blazoned with the boldly printed words, Enough Is Enough, the shirt jumped out at me. Suddenly, it all came together. Not only did the ad show the ideal picture to complement the headline of my blog post, but it also advertised the perfect gift.

In these troubling times, we can all hold claim to the penetrating expression enough is enough. Finding the appropriate visual made it easy to write a meaningful blog post. Adding to the value of purchasing the messaged Tee, was a percentage of the proceeds from the sale goes to charity. The description of the T-shirt found on the website reads, “This super soft heather orange Enough is Enough Tee is not just comfortable but it is [for] a great cause. Wear orange to bring awareness to gun violence and 50% of each sale is donated to South Orange Maplewood's very own SOMA Action Student Leadership Group.”   

The smaller sizes of the orange Tees are sold-out. Possibly people in those size groups are already wearing the thought-provoking shirts. But wait...society is being catapulted from the frightening thought of random mass shootings, an alarming array occurring at schools, to the fear of isolation, or worse, death by COVID-19. Alas, a new cause for brandishing the words enough is enough, is rapidly spreading throughout the world. As a result of the pandemic, which is precipitating a shutdown of all schools, the new demographic of consumers purchasing the provocative shirts will surely increase sales. 

Workers everywhere have placed their lives on the line. As a previously unknown scary contagion has taken hold, students are being informed that they may be required to wear masks upon their return to school. Frighteningly, personal protective equipment (PPE) is often unavailable to front line workers. As a result, many who are trying to help, from grocers to hospital workers, are instead dying of the ravages from the coronavirus. The mortality rate has skyrocketed in two months, surpassing the death toll from all the Vietnam War years. Sad to say, restocking of the once discounted T-shirts will likely prove profitable. 

Enough is enough premature talk about restarting the economy; with so many citizens dying from a newly spiraling viral infection, now is not the time. The rate of morbidity around the world since the onset of COVID-19 is mind-blowing.

We just need to get by..., as Ringo sang in the Beatles' 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, with a little help from [our] friends…(or, with government assistance). 

The opening line to the 1963 smash hit, Our day will come and we’ll have everything…keeps passing through my mind. The words are more poignant than ever. For now, stay home - save lives. 

The time has arrived to figure out how to make the world a safer place for humankind. Maybe we all should be wearing orange T-shirts that proclaim Enough Is Enough. I started by buying one such brightly colored messaged Tee.

Who shall be the recipient? That lucky person needs to display the fortitude to realize that on all levels, enough is enough, plus the gumption to work at securing the necessary changes. Only then will Led Zeppelin’s Stairway To Heaven lyrics, a new day will dawn, be realized.

We’ll get by with a little help…