So last week I attended a family gathering, one of the largest ever since the pandemic started. As the coronavirus has now become so ubiquitous in every environment, it was no surprise to learn that everyone at the event got infected, including myself. Even though I have been vaccinated, it was hard to shake the underlying fear that the grim reaper that has been chasing people globally had finally come for me. I only had a sore throat and some mild congestion, I have had much worse symptoms from the regular cold so this was surprising.
Now towards recovery, I guess I could laud the effectivity of vaccines and how we are collectively making progress in moving past this disease. The truth, the hard truth, is that this is only a superficial depiction of what’s happening. Vaccines are effective, but countless people are still being infected and falling ill. By pretending that everything has been solved with vaccines, we no longer have the stamina to make the hard choices in actually protecting people. Does this mean that lockdowns should come back, that movement should be restricted, that mask mandates and space restrictions should be returned? I hate the idea of these emotionally, but rationally I know that if the virus isn’t stopped or slowed, is it reasonable to expect that everything will “work” out?
We are living in a time of crisis, this is no longer like the rosy “good old days”, and I highly doubt the sense of normalcy will return. Even as I say it, I don’t want to accept it. When I was younger, I used to really believe the adults who said that everything would get better because that’s the natural course of history, that people’s lives would always be improved. Well, corona really shattered that glass dream.
Stay safe out there people.
