Somehow, I managed to get myself a spot on the COVID vaccine list for a shot next week. I’ve been looking all over for a month, and my impression of the rollout is that it’s been chaos. I’d lie if I said that I didn’t feel guilty, but I am a part of group 1a on account of some immune issues that I have, so I stepped up to the plate and sought out a shot pretty aggressively.
With my autoimmune issues and the monasticism, I have been stricter about lockdown than anyone that I know. I don’t think I will change much about what I do, but it will be much nicer when my son visits for him not to worry so much. We’ll play games and hopefully some music together.
It’s been interesting, confusing, and revealing how people respond to the threat of the virus. One good friend who is in his 80s insists on traveling about. He wears a mask, and gets tested all the time. I worry for him. Another friend, who is the only person in his family who is NOT high risks has his whole family going to Disney without masks and says that if I get the vaccine, he won’t see me, though he invites me over without the vaccine? He’s listening to conspiracy theories. My son takes it very seriously. Some neighbors flaunted their maskless adventures. They all came down with it and are now preaching masks as if they always were masking. The 6 year old who comes to work with her pop zips around the shop in her colorful mask humming and playing with office supplies. I’m sure I look like the fearful doomsayer from others’ perspectives. I’m not judgmental about this- I surely differ, however these folks are operating with a different dataset than I am apparently, of course they will find different solutions.
What I wonder about is what happens after COVID. Will these chasms of behaviors be bridgable? Will we be able to resume friendships? And what if there are consequences. What if the child of the anti-vaxxer dies? His wife? What if the cancer patient partner of my friend, who didn’t sign up for a vaccine on time (but I did), gets very sick. Will my friend feel resentment towards me? I see in my small sphere a reflection of global covid behaviors and challenges. I can only hope when we rise from this that we can be forgiving of our differences even though in some cases, the consequences will be fatal.