We’re at the “who can tell?” stage of caring for one another on the road away from Covid, as in “who can tell whether I care?” I went inside a lovely establishment which served wine and food yesterday with my mask on and was immediately asked by the proprietor if I’d been vaccinated. My hoary head must have begged the question, and since I am, I responded in the affirmative. I was then welcomed to ditch the mask, which caused me to muse about freedom and responsibility. There’s the over-the-top industrial strength ridiculous response fomented by some clever Tennesseans- yellow mimics of WWll Nazi Jewish stars that say Not Vaccinated. There’s the equally mindless 24-carat racist drivel from DC’s QAnon queen equating masks w/ the Holocaust. But the quiet version of that would simply be to lie and say yes when asked if you’ve had the Fauci Ouchie. You could even call it a “White” lie, and probably not be far from the truth.
A query from the weary: how do y’all so enraptured by a twisted view of freedom feel about second hand smoke in your face? Or living downwind from a factory-scale pig farm whose sequestration of oceans of offal foul the air? How about no speed limit on the block where you live and perhaps your children play? Point is, taking care of one another has always been the gateway to progress, socially, medically, and economically. And “othering” has alway been the regressive way to a perceived advantage for some. Enter the Jewish anti-vaxx star or Ted Cruz opining on Fox that people should have the “freedom” to come to a workplace sans vaccination. Perspective: herd immunity is also freedom, something the parents of polio/measles/diphtheria/tetanus/whooping cough-free children of this generation are too often not fully cognizant of. But it’s herd immunity, not ‘heard impunity.’ Please remember, Fox-bots: like it or don’t, public schools still have the absolute right to exclude non-vaccinated children. Political discrimination or looking out for one another? Newsflash: schools get it, and they really don’t care what you or Senator Cancun think of them.
As once-in-a-century pandemics go, casualties tended away from the well-off who mostly weathered quarantining comfortably. While many who ran eating establishments had to give up their livelihoods, delivery services like GrubHub flourished. I mean, nothing says “we’re in this together” like a doorbell and a hot pizza left sitting on the front step. Front line workers did enjoy a short bump in esteem, until the backlash over paying them a living wage returned w/ a vengeance, fueled by the usual DC suspects w/ an R after their names. More perspective: because Covid has always exacted uneven consequence and the less-well off paid a far greater toll, the execrable villainy of its politicization has seriously drained our national reserves of empathy. That may be the greatest loss of all. It takes a village, some have said. Today’s attitude far too often: it takes a pillage. The real road to freedom is this: have a thought, and get your shot. Or if you prefer a more partisan take: vote for the hope, not the dope. By the way, Ted did say he’s had the vaccination. Looks like with the Cancun Cowboy, actions speak louder than turds.