1.  Our eldest got his first COVID-19 vaccination this weekend and guys, I just can’t say enough about what a difference having a coordinated rollout makes.

2.  I was flabbergasted in January when the Biden team took office and we learned there wasn’t a vaccine distribution plan in the works. Flabbergasted…except not, you know? It was one of those deeply distressed but not exactly surprised kind of things.

3.  So I was exceedingly grateful when the grownups took over and got to work figuring out how to vaccinate millions of Americans. We need to worry about the rest of the planet, too, but let’s tackle the U.S. first.

4.  I got my first vaccination a couple of weeks ago in a small local pharmacy so there wasn’t much to it – sit in one of a handful of chairs, get your shot, sit back in your chair then poof! Done. This weekend was not that.

5.  Once North Carolina opened vaccinations to anyone age sixteen and up I started scouting appointments for T-man. We ended up finding one at a clinic run in a coordinated effort by our county health department and Cone Health. After my little local pharmacy vaccination it was something to see.

6.  They’d converted large unused warehouse spaces into a highly efficient and remarkably safe place to get vaccinations.

7.  The ceilings were sky high – because, you know, warehouse – so it hardly felt like being indoors. We checked in at a front table and they sent us to one of the tables arranged around the perimeter of the room to answer vaccine related questions and schedule his second shot.

8.  Then we followed a volunteer into another section of the warehouse where there were countless vaccination stations set up around the room. We met a very nice nurse who went over all the info then swipe, jab, BAM. Done.

9.  Then we were pointed to another warehouse space. After confirming his vaccination card info they had us pass through a large empty area and into the final warehouse space for observation. This section had about a hundred chairs set up, six feet apart, each with a bagged timer hanging from the back. We sat for about twenty minutes before checking out.

10.  The whole thing, top to bottom, maybe took forty-five minutes. As we were sitting there I looked around at the organization and countless volunteers making the whole thing possible and thanked my lucky stars. This is what can happen when adults put their minds to solving a crisis.