Safe Passage to and from Rhode Island [OPINION]

I have close ties to nearby Rhode Island. My wife is from Rhode Island. My wife's aging parents still live in Rhode Island. Not only that, but I also have family in Rhode Island. We travel back and forth to Rhode Island a lot. Many of you probably do as well since it is so close, and you almost can't help but step in it.

When Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker announced last week that Rhode Island had been added to his list of cootie bug states and that travel between there and here could land you in a COVID time out, I was a bit concerned at first. But alas, my concerns were for naught.

I thought I'd heard something about Governor Charlie and a platoon of secret police or something that would be patrolling, looking for people who'd dare step over the line without getting his permission. I didn't see anything. And I sneaked across the border several times. In broad daylight, no less. No Charlie. There must have been a cookout at the Polito's.

Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo was said to be on the lookout for corona-bologna as well. But I didn't see the "Big G" anywhere either. Even those silvery State Police cruisers that usually dot the biggest little state's highways were nowhere to be found. Gina must have had them at the beaches, measuring the distance between bikini bottoms in the sand.

I'm glad Charlie and Gina had better things to do besides harassing folks at the border over the weekend. But don't waste everybody's time on such idiotic bluster when there is no way or no intention to enforce such foolish mandates.

Barry Richard is the host of The Barry Richard Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. Contact him at barry@wbsm.com and follow him on Twitter @BarryJRichard58. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.