CAPE COD — It was supposed to a short vacation in Miami Beach to reconnect with college friends. But thanks to Florida Gov Ron DeSantis’ breathtaking incompetence, Florida is now America’s COVID epicenter. Things got iffy when Florida’s daily transmission rates approached 3,500. Today’s Florida’s 7-day average is well over 10,000.

It would be bonkers to fly to Miami right now.

But Plan B came easily. Massachusetts notched zero COVID fatalities the day we reconsidered, the starkest possible contrast to Florida’s skyrocketing casualty count. And with that we were off to Provincetown, a LGBT-centric shore town at the tip of Cape Cod.

It’s notable that Florida and Massachusetts are both led by Republican governors. Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker flattened the curve with quick and decisive leadership. Masks, distance, wash your hand, it’s not that hard.

Meanwhile, the deadly spiral continues in Florida and Governor DeSantis looks overwhelmed and helpless to stop it.

Any guesses which one’s a Trump loyalist?

Without a Trace

Every human being I’ve encountered in the state of Massachusetts wore a mask in public. That’s just the culture and that stood out. And the results speak for themselves.

I gave my phone number a lot in Provincetown, but it’s not what you might think. People just kept asking for it! First at the gyro shop. Later on, the hostess at dinner. The hotel clerk wanted it and so did the lady who cut my hair. I assumed my phone number was a security measure for credit card transactions.

WRONG!

It turns out, Massachusetts takes contact tracing very seriously and that’s why certain businesses wanted my phone number. This commitment to containing the coronavirus means I’ll be notified if, for example, my haircutter was exposed to COVID earlier that day. The Massachusetts Department of Health would reach out and I’d know to quarantine for two weeks and to get tested.

Accoring to the Centers for Disease Control, contact tracing is a tool used by health departments “to prevent the spread of infectious disease. In general, contact tracing involves identifying people who have an infectious disease and their contacts (people who may have been exposed) and working with them to interrupt disease transmission.”

Contact tracing enabled South Korea and New Zealand contain this disease. This approach has enabled partial indoor dining in Massachusetts. Bars are open. Life is more normal here than back home in NJ so why aren’t we emulating what appears to be best practices?

Is contact tracing even happening in New Jersey right now?

NJ Gov Phil Murphy is a Massachusetts native who’s doing an admirable job leading NJ through a pandemic which came with no rulebook. But there’s room to grow. And I’m pretty sure if Gov Murphy reached out for a contract tracing tutorial, Gov Baker would treat the request with grace and urgency.

#BlackLivesMatter

Donald Trump is very unpopular in Massachusetts. And given Provincetown’s reputation as a gay-friendly liberal enclave, it’s no surprise to see so many anti-racism signs all over the place.

There’s common ground. LGBT people know state-sanctioned violence. The 1969 uprising at Stonewall happened when queer people finally fought back against systematic abuse and and harassment from law enforcement. At the time it was easy to disparage the events at Stonewall as a riot. But today we honor Stonewall as the rebellion which kicked off the modern LGBT rights movement in America.

For its part, Provincetown is a very white town, both in an out of season. But all these expressions of #BlackLivesMatter solidarity give (mostly) white visitors from less liberal places something to contemplate.

Conservatives will accuse Provincetown of virtue signaling. But I call it a long overdue conversation among white people about how racism is our problem too. Every American whose potential is stifled because of racism or prejudice is a moral and economic burden we all bear.

Apparently NJ Gov Phil Murphy know this.

I woke up in Provincetown to an OpEd about pollution and injustice written by Gov Murphy and Catherine McCabe, NJ’s commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection.

“While federal and state environmental laws have been effective in reducing air, water and hazardous waste pollution for most New Jerseyans, the sad truth is that they fall short in protecting the health of the people who live in low-income, communities of color. Some particularly noxious facilities are concentrated in these communities, including incinerators, waste transfer stations, and other major sources of air pollution.”

Where does your trash go when they take it away? Where’s your toilet water  treated?

Conversations about race and inequality are hard. But it’s the very least white people should be doing right now.

Jay Lassiter the court jester of NJ politics who believes that difficult conversations without action are just talk.