I’m with the Program/Put Down the Denial

We live in a place where people still say things like, “Ya, but do you actually know anyone who has died from the virus?” in zooms full of people and think it’s okay to ask such a question.  A place where you can go to a public spot (I’m told) and find folks greeting each other with hugs, mask free.

There is zero clinical or scientific basis for what I perceive to be actions that are JFN.  Just Frigging Nuts.

There is a sign in front of our supermarket requiring masks, but it’s not enforced and people don’t respect it voluntarily.  People who suggest that wearing a mask is not helpful sound like flat-earthers or climate-deniers to me.  There’s just a gaping chasm between my understanding of flying droplets risk and the morality of jeopardizing others and the anti-maskers’ worldview.  

I get it, perhaps.  I don’t like this reality either.  But I’m with the program.  I’ve put down the denial.  And please if it bugs you that I‘m saying this, stop reading, unsubscribe.  Let’s not do the arguing and being mean to each other thing. We’re all just trying to get through the day as best we can.

It’s just.  It’s just, it’s tough because the way the anti-mask-ers and the quasi-maskers are choosing to get through the day, according to real scientists, is gonna kill a bunch of people.  And I’m so sure that’s not their intention.

So anyway, I’m staying home.  I’m really lucky that I get to do that and, frankly, so are they.  Because if someone came breathing near me mask-free I’m not sure I’d pause and say the serenity prayer.  I like to think I would but it could go a whole other way. 

So perhaps my staying home is reducing more than COVID risk for the community.  And perhaps it’s ok, even good, to feel all the feels and simply not act on them.  Keep practicing that patience, tolerance, kindness, and love stuff while avoiding situations that make it harder for me to do so as much as I can. 

So thank you to all the healthcare professionals taking care of our sick and to all the essential workers making it possible for me to stay home and hopefully stay healthy.  And thank you to everyone doing their best to keep themselves and other people safe. I’m gonna keep going.