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Depending on where you live, you may or may not be allowed to go to the beach. We’re in the midst of a pandemic, as you might have heard (or not, if you’re these people), and social distancing is all the rage. All the rage, at least, in places where the curve is being flattened. Social distancing is causing rage in some places, though, and protests are breaking out across the United States.
Did you hear Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s recent justification? “There are more important things than living,” he said as a reason for opening up the economy. Clearly, living is much more important than anything else, but I guess that’s just my opinion. Sure does feel like a fact, though. Anyway, amidst all the rage, a handful of previously-closed beaches are opening back up, like in Florida, where the beaches were immediately packed to the gills. #Floridamorons began to trend when photos of the crowded beaches filtered through the internet. And one man, a lawyer from the state named Daniel Uhlfelder, is objecting to the #Floridamorons packing the beaches in a pretty hilarious way: starting on May 1, he’s planning on hitting the road dressed as the Grim Reaper. He’ll hit the beaches in his black robe to let people know that they could be tempting fate.
“Many of you have asked if I am willing to travel around Florida wearing Grim Reaper attire to the beaches and other areas of the state opening up prematurely,” Uhlfelder wrote on Twitter. “The answer is absolutely yes. Beginning May 1 we will hit the road here in (the) state.”
Many of you have asked if I am willing to travel around Florida wearing Grim Reaper attire to the beaches and other areas of the state opening up prematurely. The answer is absolutely yes. Beginning May 1 we will hit the road here in state. Please retweet and spread the word. pic.twitter.com/UO7QKg161n
— Daniel Uhlfelder (@DWUhlfelderLaw) April 22, 2020
The idea came from a campaign out of New Zealand that was created to promote water safety and prevent drowning deaths. The Swim Reaper traveled around to beaches in New Zealand with glorious little pieces of wisdom like this: “NZ is amaze! Heaps of mean beaches and swimming holes, and a long line of people willing to do dumb stuff. The perfect mix. Ha! Yeah, so I’m just hanging out all summer, waiting to reap some peeps. Swim dumb and I’ll be seeing you soon.”
Of course, since we’re living in 2020 and everything is politicized, Uhlfelder is also hoping his Florida Reaper stunt will help raise money for Democrats running for federal office. His main focus, however, is making people think twice about crowding together in the midst of a virus that’s burning its way through the planet. As of this writing, nearly 200,000 people have died from the Coronavirus around the world, and in the United States, it’s still on the upswing. “Different parts of the country are seeing different levels of COVID-19 activity,” wrote the CDC. “The United States nationally is in the acceleration phase of the pandemic.”
