For the record, this will be more of a rant than data backed post.
Let me start by saying, yes, we’re tired. Every person (that took covid seriously) are fatigued. We’ve been boosted, masked, and socially distanced for over 3 years now. I get it, no one wants to do any of it anymore. There is a problem though…
Covid doesn’t give a fuck about how tired you are. People are still dying from it, people are still getting sick from it, and its still worse than the flu. I’ll peruse Reddit occasionally, and there was an article on my Front page from The Guardian.
People aren’t taking this seriously’: experts say US Covid surge is big risk.
I am one of those people where I will sometimes just read the headline, if it states the gist of the article, then I go straight to the comments. Reddit is mostly comments, so if there is a topic that I know will make me angry, I sort of steer clear. Covid can sway opinions to either side. As long as they are logical with their thoughts, I am willing to listen.
The thing about that article, we’ve been seeing it since the pandemic started. While it has gotten better in a sense of lowering the curve, people getting sick or dying, there are times where all of that ramps back up. People are immune to it and want to move past it. I get it. The problem is, that’s not how pandemics work. The spanish flu of 1918 lasted for a couple of years, but it killed millions from all around the globe. With it killing that amount of people in a short time, will this Covid pandemic be worse because the earth is more populated? Who knows. All I know is, its still very transmissible 4 years later.
Back to the Reddit post about the Guardian article, the comments became somewhat whiny the more I read them.
“I’ve been wearing a mask for 3 years, I’m done.”
“We’ve been doing this long enough.”
“Covid was created by the government.” Yes, people still say this one.
“It’s endemic, we have to learn to live with covid.”
I never understood the last one. Why do we have to learn to live with a deadly disease, when there are clear ways to curb it. There are measures that Americans, businesses, and our government could take that would have essentially killed Covid. Now, here we are. People are covid fatigued.
What Grinds My Gears
The problem I am having is I don’t have a choice in the matter of how I WANT to live my life. Covid is real and since I am immunocompromised and my family members are also, I’m going to continue to do what I need to to make sure none of us get sick. That’s great people don’t care, but unfortunately, I do. I refuse to get my mother sick who was on cancer treatments. Or my father who has diabetes. Or my nephew who was born a preemie and don’t me started on RSV. My problem is I am an empathetic person. I care about others well being. That’s something most Americans don’t have.
Newsflash: Americans are selfish. And that is why Covid will stay.
People essentially stopped wearing masks years ago. Even when mask mandates were in place, its hard to get a worker to tell an irate customer to put it on in fear of being yelled at or worse. I still wear my mask not just in stores, but around family also. No offense to my loved ones, but just like the strangers, I have no idea who you’ve been around or what you’ve been doing. Me, I enjoy the fact that I haven’t had a cold in years.
Not Living in Fear
I don’t get when people say, “You can’t live in fear.” What does that mean. I can’t live safely? The way I see it is, if I’m doing something that prevents me or my immediate family from getting sick and potentially being hospitalized, then I guess I’ll be ok with “living in fear.”
This pandemic has really brought out my hatred for the human race in general. I loathe people as it is, so being away from them all, is up my alley. I may travel again one day, but it probably won’t be anytime soon.