The editorial page of the Washington Post has an annual tradition of compiling a list of the good things that happened that year. Finding 16 positive things that happened in 2016, or 17 in 2017, was easier than finding 20 things for 2020—even without a pandemic. But the Post met deadline, even coming up the bonus development of a panda birth at the National Zoo. Some may feel a little strained, including good things that were only made necessary by horrific events. Still, this year, we'll take the positive where we can find it. Here's a sampling:
- Thousands of volunteers risked taking expermental vaccines to help come up with a way to protect others.
- The scientific world worked together, across borders, to understand the virus and produce vaccines.
- A record number of Americans kept the national commitment to vote, despite the health risks.
- For the first time, a Black person was elected vice president. Sen. Kamala Harris also will be the nation's first Asian American vice president and the first woman in the job.
- A Supreme Court ruling declared that no American can be fired for being gay or transgender.
- Drive-in movie theaters are back.
- People learned to connect with doctors, colleagues, friends and relatives with Zoom and FaceTime.
- A new appreciation formed for medical workers including janitors, receptionists, orderlies, nurses and doctors who helped care for the people who fell ill with the coronavirus and their families. Grocery workers, bus drivers, delivery crews, farmworkers and everyone else who tried to keep the nation going are rightfully included.
- The panda.
(You can read the full story
here.)
(Merriam-Webster announced its
word of the year.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
