Lack County Stir: Pandemic Edition

 "Stir it up". It was never my favorite Bob Marley song, but it was a pretty good one.   I always loved the blatant call to rebellion in Marley's music. Fuck the man, right out there in the open with nothing to apologize for. I wanted to be like that, so bad, to stick up for myself against any slights with courage and conviction. To always be brave and do the right thing. It was impossible, the standards that I quietly held myself to while I was growing up.  There was no gifted and talented program at Baldwin Community Schools, no swimming pool, no lacrosse team, for fuck's sake. But what there was was racial diversity, poverty and the ravages of addiction on full display, and bitter, gaping gaps between rich and poor, all within the same small, nature-bound community. My mother, as was her habit, spoiled me and convinced me totally unwaveringly that I was special and was indeed gifted, talented, AND handsome, no matter what my cold, poor school could provide. She se...