Grinding

 Down or up? Grinding into dust the bad? Or grinding out progress by inches?

I sense we are at that point. Turning from one direction to another. A better option or not? Ah, that is the question.

I see our nation battling a pandemic. It has been a long slog, but the journey requires more of us. We need to keep plodding in the manner that defeats the virus and its march through our population. We do not need to give up and let it has its way with us.

Yes, I think we are fiddling around with that proposition, or at least a large portion are.

I understand being tired and disgusted with the pandemic. I don't like wearing masks, nor do I like being cooped up in my apartment for 7+ months. I certainly don't like the prospect of Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays without my family near.

The alternative is not a pleasant thought. Do I give up on science and knowledgeable advisors? Do I chance getting the virus and dealing with all that portends? 

There are amateurs throughout the land who claim the virus won't hurt them. There are those who have already had the virus and felt it wasn't all that bad; besides, now they claim they are immune to it. These same people claim the virus will not affect you long term. Like the chicken pox, get it and put it behind you.

Well, it isn't that simple is it? There are huge numbers of people with cardiac, pulmonary and weight histories that make them vulnerable to serious health problems should they get COVID-19. Diabetics are especially vulnerable. Weak and frail people, too, are vulnerable. So what do we do with these folks?

I'm one of those included in the previous chapter. I'm a functioning citizen living a life of purpose. I write. I read and study. I share experience and knowledge with others in a large volunteer group. I'm active in many things and hope my contributions have value. Do I throw all that away because some people think the virus is a hoax or a weak pandemic?

225,000 people in America have died of this hoax. Well over 8 million people have suffered the disease. Healthcare professionals are still baffled with the virus - it's trajectory, damage short term and long term to affected patients. Treatments are getting better but they are not fail-safe. The disease act differently in different patients and doctors have only their wits to guide them through dicey treatment plans.

No. COVID-19 is real. It is deadly to many people. It is uncomfortable for most who get it. And its long term effects are simply a huge unknown. The threat is real. The end is not truly in sight. We await better treatment, more research and a working vaccine that defeats the monster among us.

Claiming it doesn't exist or is a minor inconvenience is not provable fact. It is, indeed, a fantasy.

Those who do not believe this do not have the right to inflict their threat of contagion on others. 

Read that statement again. They do not have the right to inflict their contagion on others. They must cooperate with the community for its sake even if they don't believe it. If they insist on placing their own lives at risk, that's one thing; but it is entirely another thing to place other lives at risk. Even members of their own family.

Grinding down one path or up another one?

The choice is theirs only if they isolate themselves apart from the others. And take care of themselves and their others accordingly. That isn't truly possible is it? It simply is not practical.

Funny how thinking it through brings us back to community. We are in this together as is the rest of the world. Together we can get through this. 

As Abraham Lincoln stated wisely - "Together we stand; divided we fall."

That's true today. 

Wear your mask. Wash your hands. Keep your distance in the company of others. Stay home at much as possible.

Life will change. Businesses and institutions will fail. But the new will rise and we will be whole once again. Have faith in this. And prosper in a new, dawning world.

October 24, 2020