What would a NJ time capsule from 2020-2022 look like?

What a two years it’s been. I don’t need to recap it. You lived it. A time of such great stress and division, mourning and denial. We’ve now lost 911,000 Americans to COVID-19, we may be on the brink of war with Russia, the Biden administration is hitting record lows in polling and gas prices are killing us.

This too shall pass. (I mean, we hope so, and it’s what people say and sounded like it needed something there, so…)

Someday when we tell our great grandchildren about these times they’ll never fully understand how crazy it was. But what if we’re not around to tell them? What items would you put in a time capsule to get across what life was like in New Jersey in 2020-2022?

Masks

But not just one mask. A splendid assortment of masks from the typical disposable kind to the cloth washable ones that had designs on them to the N95 we’re-REALLY-taking-this-seriously masks to a simple cheap bandana worn by those who weren’t having any of this from the start.

oksun70

Keep America Great cap

To represent the 2020 election that ended up fueling the fire for the unrest at the Capitol on January 6. Maybe throw in a confederate flag to represent that day as there were certainly enough of them seen.

Let’s Go Brandon stickers

Joe Biden’s approval rating is down to 39% as I write this. What better to represent the state of his presidency than a Let’s Go Brandon bumper sticker. If you don’t know what that phrase really means now, you’re certainly not going to know in fifty years when this time capsule is cracked open.

Ticket stubs to “West Side Story”

For pop culture representation I suggest every ticket stub sold to Spielberg’s long-talked-about long-delayed remake of “West Side Story.” All five of them.

Getty Images for 20th Century St

Vaccine cards

Remember when they told us to laminate our vaccine cards because it would be important to show? Then they said don’t laminate them because you’d probably need booster shots?

Ciattarelli campaign sign

Jack Ciattarelli nearly pulled off the impossible in blue state New Jersey in 2021. Gov. Murphy remained in power for a second term but it was a real wake-up call for Democrats. Truck driving outsider Ed Durr even took Senate President Steve Sweeney’s seat away.

Wet floor mat

To represent the tragic flooding of Ida. 30 victims died in New Jersey, many of them swept away in their vehicles. Countless other drivers had to be water rescued and cars and homes were flooded out across the state.

Spotted lanternfly carcasses

It was an invasion like no other. You thought those cicadas were bad? But they didn’t do the agricultural damage of the spotted lanternflies. We were all being begged to kill them and salt guns became a thing.

arlutz73

The Bernie meme

Bernie Sanders with arms and legs crossed wearing a winter coat and mittens on an NJ Transit bus, on the boardwalk, on Kingda Ka at Great Adventure, underneath Lucy the Elephant, on top of Lucy the Elephant, inside of Lucy the Elephant, at TD Bank Ballpark, at Space Farms, at a Rutgers game, at PNC Bank Arts Center, at Liberty Science Center, at The Stone Pony, in a toll booth, in East Jersey State Prison…

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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Where NJ's 'red wave' of the 2021 election was reddest

In 2017, Gov. Phil Murphy won the election by 14.1 percentage points, a margin exceeding 303,000. His re-election was much closer, an 84,000-vote, 3.2-point victory. He and others talked about a ‘red wave’ of Republican voters in the electorate, and certified results show which counties turned red most.

Gallery Credit: Michael Symons