To whom it may concern,
I’m sorry.
I’m sorry for the incorrigible damages that University of Michigan students have caused your community. I’m sorry for those of you who have not seen your family in months because others have seen The Brown Jug bartender weekly. I’m sorry that some of us have been unable to wear masks for a few hours with friends, while you wear a ventilator indefinitely, wondering if you will live to see your friends and family ever again. I’m sorry that medical bills have bankrupted you, so that a white kid who will soon wear a $1,000 jacket for the rest of the season could live frivolously. I’m sorry that Fraternity & Sorority Life has taken precedence over your safety. I’m sorry that we have entered a community that will provide us with our futures only to rob its permanent residents of theirs, only to return to our cushy homes for Thanksgiving break.
I’m sorry about those of us who have complained about the responses of those with governmental or administrative power, when we would just as soon ignore their orders to socially distance ourselves. I’m sorry we couldn’t afford you any compassion, forcing you into a state of perpetual fear.
Keep sanitizing your hands and we’ll keep bloodying ours.
Andrew Pluta is a junior in the College of Literature, Science & the Arts and can be reached at pluta@umich.edu.
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