Fixing the #digitaldivide is NOT optional.

The county where I grew up is on this depressing map. Seven percent of people are using broadband-speed internet there.

It's dismal. It's one of many reasons I left for a place with more #opportunities. And it's impacted the kids who are in school there during the pandemic. When you *can't* access your lessons online, you have no choice but to attend school in-person, or fall behind. This has been one of several contributing factors that got my tiny county (about 10,000 people) national-news coverage last year.

The jobs available to those kids' parents (my high-school classmates) are limited as well - trucking, the power plant, the coal mine, and factory jobs yield the best wages. Nursing is a good wage as well - and it usually comes with a commute of 15 miles, or more, to the nearest city that has a hospital.

Besides that, there's working in places like the gas station. The local bar. The grocery store. Retail (also usually a commute - the nearest town with a Walmart is 15 minutes away at highway speed.) All are an honest job, but low paying and not for everyone. And it hurts us all when whole swathes of the country get left behind because they're too poor, or "too remote."

People shouldn't have to leave to have a chance. Being able to #telecommute shouldn't be a luxury. Especially as my generation's parents age, I more closely watch the problem. Some of the people who left, like me, are going to have to go back soon to tend to elderly family. Without telecommute opportunities, what will their futures look like? Their children's?