As the holidays are drawing near, it is an exciting time as friends are coming to town. However, unlike in years passed, my family will probably not see our comrades.
My mom was talking to a woman who is coming to our area. The woman remarked that although she and her husband were coming to our region, they were going to be spending the time isolated in their rented accommodations. Maybe once a week they would put their lives at risk and venture to the store. But besides this weekly encounter with death, they would not be in contact with anyone.
The fear and panic which has gripped this country boggles my mind. Every year we have viruses which cause illness and kill people. No one has seemed to care much in the past. But, as my friends in politics like to say, “Never let a serious crisis go to waste.” And that is precisely what is being pushed by many state and local governments and media outlets. People are being scared into irrational thoughts like you can “catch” a virus from going outside and breathing fresh air. People would rather stay home and “be safe” than go to the doctor or hospital to receive medical treatment for real medical emergencies such as arrhythmias, heart attacks and strokes. No, it’s much better to stay safe at home than go into a facility in which a person may have a minute chance of being exposed to the invisible virus. People believe being in any sort of contact with another human being means they are putting themselves in grave danger.
I wonder how long this fear and panic will last. This state of paranoia reminds me of the attacks on our country on September 11, 2001. Remember how people would not leave their homes because they were sure it was unsafe to do so? Flying on planes meant they were putting their lives at risk. Every human was viewed in a cloud of suspicion because no one knew if the other person was a friend or foe.
Sometime in the last 19 years, these fears have been erased. A new generation has been born. A number of people who lived through the events of 9-11 have perished. For the rest of us, the memories have faded into the distant past. As with everything before, we survived and continue forward.
As we move toward the holidays, do whatever makes you feel safe. But for me, it is better to see people face to face, talk, laugh and live together than allow fear and panic to ripe us apart. Several of my friends have perished in the last few weeks. They had been staying safe from the world and locked away in their homes; and yet, non-virus related conditions ended their lives. You can hide as much as you want, but time and chance happen to us all. Hoping some day soon we can all be back together again.
No comments:
Post a Comment