From a young age most of us were taught there is no “I” in “team.” That if we worked together towards a common goal, we would be able to achieve it.

This ideology was obviously lost during the pandemic. We saw the Karens protesting wearing a mask because “it’s their body, their choice” but then would be the same people complaining on Facebook later that night about not being able to go to the movies or eat inside a restaurant. They were also the same people leaving bad yelp reviews because a store made them wear a mask to enter.

They would complain that this pandemic is going on forever but it’s because they wouldn’t take any of the safety precautions that were recommended so we wouldn’t be stuck in quarantine forever. They were so quick to complain but they were focused on the “I” not the team.

The same thing happened with Gretna High. Parents and students were focused on how they wanted to have a homecoming and they deserved to have a homecoming regardless of the pandemic and the school canceling it due to safety reasons. They had their homecoming dance anyway and have seen a surge of 40 plus positive cases that they were able to trace back to the gathering according to WOWT.

If Gretna would have just accepted the fact they would have to miss out on homecoming this year and just be sad over it like the rest of us, there wouldn’t have been a spike in cases. They were focused on themselves and were incredibly selfish and complicated things for the rest of us.

If we could all just learn to work together to achieve a goal it wouldn’t be a problem. Once we start focusing on the bigger picture instead of the little corner we contribute, we will be able to advance as a society.

We have a bigger effect on the world than we think, if just one person gets the mentality that “oh I’m just one person I don’t need to do anything” it will have a trickle effect and eventually no one will be working towards the goal. We need to realize we all play a significant part in ending this pandemic and in the world in general.