Aleatha Thrower: Left and right - scoot to the middle, please.

I am not a scientist.

I am not a politician.

I am not a conspiracy theorist. (Unless we are talking about the moon landing, but I digress.)

I am just a girl from the south side of Lenoir County.

And like most of you – I have an opinion.

And if we could just get everyone to scoot toward the middle a little, that would be great. Because here’s the thing. On any particular issue, you can find yourself either too far to the left or too far to the right.

To those who feel we should fully open and resume life: I think you are right.

To those who feel we should understand that this virus is real, potentially life-threatening and precautions should be taken? I think you, too, are right.

Listen, it really isn’t about:

"The gov'ment can't make me wear a mask!”
”Save America!”
”Save freedom!”
”I will not comply!"

#Stop

For me, it is more about the fact that we have overreached in our response and the cost of doing so is very high – much higher than the risk based on data. The leadership of this state has dropped the ball and is making politically driven decisions and not what is actually best for North Carolina.

The original decision to shut down was the right one and I fully supported Gov. Cooper. Now, it has gone too far.

The risk of contracting the virus will exist for quite some time and truth is we STILL do not know all we need to about it. Let us not forget the truth of Darwin's explanation of natural selection. We are mammals, at the end of the day, and only the strong survive. That is how it works in the animal kingdom. You know, circle of life and all that. That sounds so dirty but that is the reality of the situation. But we cannot stay locked up inside for the next year. Our immune systems are not made to work that way.

We should, at least here in Lenoir County, I do not speak for any other county or state, allow the rest of our businesses to open. Those with a high risk of infection should continue to use caution in every way possible or stay home. The rest of us need to get back to normal. I believe that, 100 percent. Most people are living that way anyway – in case you haven’t noticed.

It will be very interesting to see how soon this goes away after the election. And for the record, I do not support Trump so let’s not get that twisted. But both sides of the aisle have something to gain by dragging all of this out as long as possible. Keeping us in this place of division has political gains for all that play the game. And regardless of your party affiliation, you must make no mistake about it – politics is a game. Disgusting, but that is the ugly truth.

How long will this last? No one knows.

But from those of us that live in that middle space between the far left and the far right let me just say:

You need to calm down.