Many years ago, I did a performance piece about my bowl of compassion being empty and I feel the same way now. I was watching a news clip about a family in–I want to say Alabama, but it could have been Tennessee. Or Arkansas–somewhere south. They had a family get-together of something like ten people. None of them vaxxed. All got Covid. The pregnant 19-year-old daughter ended up in the hospital (the rest recovered). CNN interviewed the mother and she said, “We let down our guard. Like everyone in the world, we thought this pandemic wasn’t that big a deal. It hadn’t touched our family yet.” I’m paraphrasing, but that was pretty much what she said as her daughter was on a ventilator. They managed to induce the baby (who I assume is fine, but maybe not?) and the doc teared up as he was talking to CNN.
First of all, who’s “everyone”, lady? Most people know that this is a big deal, especially with the Delta variant. You didn’t let down your guard; you were being fucking idiots. There was a Dear Prudence letter early in the pandemic by someone who was upset with their brother’s family for being pro-Covid is a hoax, not taking any steps to social distance, jeering at them for being cautious–and, of course, got Covid. The letter writer was infuriated that they set up a Go Fund Me and did not want to contribute. Danny (Prudence) said that no one deserved Covid, especially given how confusing the government response was to it.
Now. I will say that sixteen months ago, yes, we were in a state of confusion. But, after the first month, most of us realized that what was happening wasn’t normal or going away any time soon. More to the point, it’s a matter of degrees. At that time, anyone who had qualms and was struggling to understand things, I can sympathize with that. It’s the declaring everyone else sheeples and loudly announcing their idiotic behavior that is annoying as fuck. Did they deserve Covid? That’s not the right way to look at it. The right mindset is that Covid is the natural consequence to their behavior.
Fast-forward to this family. I felt bad for the young woman as I would for anybody in that situation, but my immediate thought was impatience. Like, what the fuck did you expect to happen and you’re damn lucky it was only one of the people who had to be hospitalized. It wasn’t that you let down your guard–it was that you have a faulty belief in the first place. I hope the young woman pulls through, but this is the natural consequence of their actions. I don’t expect people to know the ins and outs of the coronavirus, but for the love of god! We’ve been at this for sixteen months. If you don’t know the basics by now–it’s highly contagious, especially the Delta variant–then I can’t help you.
There have been stories of very vocal anti-vaxxers/maskers who have gotten Covid and died. For them, I have no sympathy or empathy. It’s one thing to believe what you believe and go about your life. It’s another thing to use your platform to sway people to your misinformed point of view. By the way, there’s a special ring in hell for the FOX assholes and the Republican assholes who are vaxxed but are agitating on this matter because of politics. You know how I know? 50% of Republicans refuse to say if they’re vaxxed or not. The same ones shouting about personal rights, blah, blah, blah. If they were not vaxxed, they would be loud and proud about that fact. It’s the fact that they are vaxxed that they want to keep quiet, which is particularly abhorrent. There are a few who believe the shit they’re spewing, but for the most part, it’s coldly political.
I don’t want anyone to die from Covid. But, I’m more concerned about people who are doing the right thing and about people who can’t get vaxxed. For those who refuse to get vaxxed or mask up or social distance, I can’t care about them more than they care for themselves. I have said that if it only affected them, I would be like, “Have at it.” But they can infect other people and not to mention the healthcare providers who are stretched to the brink of breaking.
My brother had a friendly acquaintance of his that he knew in high school die because of a misdiagnosed heart attack and not being able to get a bed in the first hospital due to overcapacity. This weekend is the start of the State Fair with no rules about Covid. Millions of people jammed together, eating food, spitting on each other, and god knows what else. School starts right after that and it’s going to be a nightmare.
By the way, nearly 2/3rds of Americans support a mask mandate (it will not surprise you to know that Republicans are much more against it than Democrats). That’s how not political it actually is. I’m dreading the return to school, especially in the states who are acting like the pandemic is over. My BFF is a teacher at a school in Philly and she knows that many of her students are unvaxxed for a variety of reasons. There is no way to social distance when they are full and keeping masks on teenagers is a folly. She lost more than one last year to a variety of things and she cannot deal with more deaths of her students.
I’m exhausted. Not by the pandemic itself as I didn’t have to adjust my behavior too much, but by my fellow Americans–the minority who will be jackasses. This could have been over by now, but no. Too many people showing their asses and I am so tired of it. It feels that those of us who have been doing our level best to do the right thing have to pay the price for that vocal minority who just can’t get their shit together. I’m over it, even if the pandemic is not over. There is nothing else I can do.