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I wish Tom Brady was playing in the Super Bowl.

I’m not really a fan of this GOAT, but it would give us a reason to watch on Sunday. For us borderline NFL fans, there’s not much to get excited about.

Sure, you’ve got the commercials, those 30-second spots that companies pay gazillions of dollars for to advertise their products. But it seems that lately, the zing has gone out of those commercials. It’s hard sometimes to even know what they’re selling.

Sure, you’ve got the halftime show with Snoop Dogg and company. No matter how well or bad they do, they’ll be praised and lambasted immediately and simultaneously on social media.

Sure, you’ve got the Super Bowl parties complete with beer and chicken wings and pizza and other things to gorge on that we’re not supposed to eat very often. But heck, I’ve got beer at home, and chicken wings still aren’t that hard to come by. Pizza is a phone call away.

And those parties won’t be like they once were. People are still freaked out about COVID and some won’t show. Others are so convinced that COVID is a conspiracy from the radical left they’ll be ready to fight anyone with even a mask on their person.

It all just makes me tired. COVID tired.

Surely, by now, we’ve all experienced this.

I’m tired of listening to our elected officials and their minions tell us conflicting messages. Some say this is a health crisis like we’ve never seen and they’re right. But they spew rhetoric. Some say the whole situation is being blown out of proportion by opposite-thinking elected officials and their minions and they’re right. But they spew their rhetoric, too.

I’m tired of science being the bad guy. I’m no scientist here, but I know the difference between science and scientific theory. But it seems that folks don’t want either of these. They want scientific theory backed by a political ideology. Or is it the other way around?  It doesn’t matter how far left or how far right you lean, you can find a scientific theory that fits your political ideology. It’s too bad we can’t see these for what they are — theories.

It all just makes me tired.

I’m tired of shopping for groceries and buying something I didn’t really need because it might not be on the shelf on the next trip.

I’m tired that the price of those groceries seems to get higher with each trip.

I’m tired of wondering if I should or shouldn’t wear a mask.

I’m tired of television news. John Prine got it right when he wrote in 1970: “All the news just repeats itself …”

I’m tired of avoiding people. I like to open doors for folks, but now I turn my head down in fear of offending them.

I’m tired of the word virtual. I don’t care if I ever hear that word again.

I’m tired of riding the COVID roller coaster. Numbers are up. Numbers are down. Stay home. It’s OK to go out. Stay home and watch a ballgame televised from a sold-out arena full of people. Stay five feet away. Stay three feet away. Your mask doesn’t work. Your mask is fine. Quarantine for 10 days. Quarantine for five days. Get a vaccination. Those shots will kill you.

Maybe the Super Bowl can be a chance to get away from our world for a couple of hours. But don’t expect me to make it very far past halftime.

I’m tired. Really tired.

Mike Barnhardt is the editor of the Davie County Enterprise Record.