One of the classic bits in Seinfeld involved Jerry going to a rental car counter to discover they have no car for him…
Rental Car Agent:
We have your reservation, we just ran out of cars.
Jerry:
But the reservation keeps the car here. That’s why you have the reservation.
Rental Car Agent:
I think I know why we have reservations.
Jerry:
I don’t think you do. You see, you know how to *take* the reservation, you just don’t know how to *hold* the reservation. And that’s really the most important part of the reservation: the holding. Anybody can just take them.
Every spring our niece and nephew, along with his family and friends, go to Jupiter. Florida to watch Cardinal Spring training. Well, the rental car place had their reservation but didn’t have a car.
The other day I finally got told by the state that I could get my COVID shots (I’m a 1b2). From their list of available sites and times, I could choose to watch the sun rise on my way to West Plains or St. Joseph. Now, I’ve always wanted to visit West Plains (a good friend’s family is from there) and I know people in St. Joe. Still, two round trips at nine hours each isn’t a good answer.
Yes, I’m on other lists too – nine in all – COVID shots are just incredibly hard to get in Missouri and especially in the St. Louis area. The system is complicated, fragmented and politicized. I’ve heard of store cashiers asking people at the Walmart in Hannibal if they want a shot while several older people with serious health issues have asked me if I knew how to speed things up.
There is one way to shorten the line: move to a small town in rural county which gave 80+ of their votes to Trump and Parson. Otherwise, pray.
Last night His Accidency, Missouri’s governor bragged on the late news that soon the state would be giving 14,000 shouts a week in this area. They must not teach math in Polk County: at that rate it would take 71 weeks to give one shot to the almost a million people in St. Louis County, meaning some people wouldn’t get jabbed until around April 15, 2022!
In other words, Missouri knows how to set-up reservations for shots but…
And, like many other states, it not only takes a village to raise a child, it takes a computer with internet access to get a shot. My mom lacks both a computer and a smart phone. The folks at the St. Charles Health Department are very nice but the extra step of getting a busy person on a phone is a challenge.
So, I guess part of being a Missourian means living in a Seinfeld world. Don’t expect things to work well and you’ll avoid disappointment.
Our niece and nephew finally got two small rental cars for their group. Alas, one soon had a flat tire.
Glenn