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I’ve tried to ignore the pandemic “in the spirit of Christmas”, but I really can’t. Two days ago, my uncle and his wife succumbed to COVID, on the same day. A friend is in quarantine along with a few close to her. I’m scared for her and many others. I think we have to be candid.
“People” aren’t listening. By “people” I mean myself, many friends and family, and many well off people who think only rural, working class and poor people need to stop gathering. Yesterday a family member told me how they had 40 people at their place yesterday for merrymaking
I know people are homesick, missed parents and other loved ones and therefore “went home for Christmas”. But this has consequences. Many of those people will pick up and bring infections back to the provinces in which we work and live.
We all want to think “others” will be infected but not us. But more people we know and love will get infected, get sick and die as a result of thinking this is for “others”. “Others” is anybody. I’m “others” to anyone who’s not me. It really doesn’t help to deny this reality
We’re not even talking about our health care workers. The doctors, nurses, porters and others who get up daily to go into COVID-infested hospitals to try and save our friends and loved ones. Some of us troll them when they tweet to warn us. We act all righteous and indignant
These people have their health to worry about. They have kids and family with co-morbidities. They take the risk every day to try and save who they can. They watch people suffocate and die, and have to be strong the next day to save more. But we don’t seem to care.
We don’t call each other out. We “like” lots of pics on here and Instagram where people are clearly flouting social distancing protocols. But when Zweli publishes his stats, which under report the cases, or when a death is announced, we just say “2020 must just end”
This can’t be the total of our response. It’s a non-response. We’re not doing our part. We’re slacking. We’re not holding one another accountable. We just look away when friends behave like cowboys out here, sharing pics of mask-free, wine filled gatherings. Come on!
And yes, I’m less careful. I don’t speak out. I’ve been to more than one gathering with friends where we pretended we each know we’re not infected and had a meal in a restaurant. We won’t win against this thing if we do this.
And we pretend we have a health system that can manage all of this even though health care workers are getting sick, dying, are super stressed and exhausted. But we actually just don’t care. I’m amazed this is us. In the face of sickness and death this is what we do!
Deep down we know inter provincial travel will be deadly in January. Same happened in the US after Thanksgiving Holiday. But what do we do? We pretend we’re exceptional. It won’t happen to us? Why? For absolutely fuxk all reason. We just choose to live in an alternate reality
No, guys. We can’t be liking pictures of friends flouting social distancing protocols. We can’t be complimenting that nonsense. We can’t be keeping quiet when family and friends organize “small” gatherings. We shouldn’t be going there! We should call it out. We gotta be woke!
And finally, we have to admit the stupid class snobbery, the double standard. The nitpicking “HIV doesn’t cause AIDS” type of smart ass arguments people make on here to deflect attention from our own complicity. It’s not just the poor who are flouting rules. We do!!
Let’s all do just one thing: have zero tolerance for those closest to us when they don’t take precautions. Just that! Let’s ask them to do the same. As for government and the petulant DA, I have no words yet. But I will.
