We chose to disband society instead, but remember when the pandemic first started, and we were thanking our healthcare heroes, paramedics, police and firefighters? We were trying to help out restaurant workers and others in the service industry, many of whom work paycheck-to-paycheck.

Our quest to return to precedented times has left out one important group: sports mascots.

An explanation may be in order.

Today, the mayor of Dallas announced plans for the annual Back to School Fair. The wee munchkins of Dallas will return to school this fall, and the city has opened registration for low income families to get supplies and check-ups for the wee tots.

The mayor explains the fair can help set kids up for success in case they don’t have easy access to school supplies. As we allegedly pull out of the pandemic, Dallas has been able to restore other services, like medical and dental check-ups and haircuts for the wee rascals.

That way, they can all grow up to argue with each other about politics on Facebook.

Kids’ education was affected by the pandemic, doctors and nurses were pushed to exhaustion, service industry workers couldn’t make ends meet. But what about the mascots?

They were left alone, unable to entertain us at ballgames. When the 2020 MLB season was shortened, I imagine the Phillie Phanatic wandering out onto an empty field in an empty Citizens Bank Park, kicking at the dirt, thrusting his horn to the sky and crying out, “Why?!”

Mascots have also had to go through some continuing education and learn new moves. During the press conference, the mayor talked about getting COVID a second time. Behind him, the Dallas Stars’ Victor E. Green was crestfallen. The Half Price Books bookworm offered a short prayer.

Had the mayor received the vaccine? Yes, he had.

And behind him, Victor was prepared to mimic getting a shot. I suspect that’s not a move he would have been able to convincingly display in 2019.

…and McGruff? McGruff just stood there.

The mayor and incoming Dallas ISD superintendent talked about how it’s good to resume the ancillary services, but with inflation hitting so hard, more people need help, and they need more donations to cover their increased expenses.

I knew this was important because, normally, Big Tex, Victor E. Green, and the Dallas Mavericks’ Champ and MavsMan wouldn’t all come to the same place for security reasons, similar to the president and vice president not traveling together. Afterward, we all wandered up to the elevator at the same time.

“I can get the next one,” I said.

But no, they welcomed me into mascot society, with MavsMan even deflating a bit. It would have been awkward if Victor E. Green needed to get out on a different floor, though.