Our immediate family has the privilege of not being medically fragile, but we also have imaginations and we do our utmost not to take risks that might put others in harm's way. The sheer selfishness that has emerged during the pandemic is one of the most terrifying aspects of the whole thing. There are lots of wonderful people, doing all the right things, trying their best, and then there are those who couldn't give a toss and still go to public events coughing and spluttering and/or not wearing masks. They believe they 'only have a cold', or even worse, after this long they still think Covid is a hoax, and apparently couldn't care less about what happens to those less robust than themselves. How on earth do we get the message across to people who pay no attention to risk unless it happens to them personally?
Oof, all the feels. It has pissed me off recently hearing of people not testing because they thought they just had a bad cold... Like what was all of that information we were told over the last 2 years for? And it's not until someone they know they spent time with told them that they had just tested positive that they tested, and whaddya know, everyone had it 🤦♀️ They were all exposed at the same event.
My kids just had a snotty nose/cough and has been off school for over a week. Was he otherwise well and bouncing of the walls having to stay at home? Yup. Was I getting frustrated that his brother was constantly trying to get out of going to school too? Yup. Did anyone else in our house get sick? No... But we could have, and it might have been covid, and if he hadn't stayed home from school he could have spread it to others, even just the snotty nose and cough could have been bad enough for one of his classmates.
This is heartbreaking. I wish I could believe that education, that knowing, would change people’s behaviour. But as I get older (well, old) I fear that the problem is not that people are getting ignorant, it’s that they are getting meaner. I don’t think for a minute that people in some golden age used to feel empathy and consider others in their decisions all the time, but I’m pretty sure more of them believed that we should, and at least tried to some of the time. The attitudes your stories describe encountering are not just careless, they’re bloody heartless.
Gosh, this was depressing AND important to read. It takes me straight back to the health anxiety I thought I had escaped from! The first time we left NICU with our full-term 'that was a bloody close call and we are so lucky this baby survived' miracle baby was to go to the MRI, and on the way back to the ward some random person touched her and exposed her to germs! I told them off, but still feel angry that someone felt their right to do what they want trumped our right to be safe. And I feel like that with Covid too!
Heartbreaking. I wear a mask even while socialising, I sip or nibble lifting the bottom of it. But I'm 66 and don't give a stuff about what others think. My heart breaks for children who need or want to mask out of concern for their own or loved ones' health. People I know who have largely dropped mask wearing (except when round me) are dropping like flies with a flu I've heard described as 10 times worse than their Covid experience. For someone with moderately severe lung disease, sarcoidosis and Guillain Barre (both autoimmune conditions), I really appreciate people who keep masks on indoors especially. I know who amongst a crowd actually cares whether their choices can harm others.
Thank you Emily. And bloody hell those smug busybodies are enraging! It’s one level of awful to refuse to mask but it’s another to tell others they don’t need to and to try to bully them!
Our immediate family has the privilege of not being medically fragile, but we also have imaginations and we do our utmost not to take risks that might put others in harm's way. The sheer selfishness that has emerged during the pandemic is one of the most terrifying aspects of the whole thing. There are lots of wonderful people, doing all the right things, trying their best, and then there are those who couldn't give a toss and still go to public events coughing and spluttering and/or not wearing masks. They believe they 'only have a cold', or even worse, after this long they still think Covid is a hoax, and apparently couldn't care less about what happens to those less robust than themselves. How on earth do we get the message across to people who pay no attention to risk unless it happens to them personally?
Oof, all the feels. It has pissed me off recently hearing of people not testing because they thought they just had a bad cold... Like what was all of that information we were told over the last 2 years for? And it's not until someone they know they spent time with told them that they had just tested positive that they tested, and whaddya know, everyone had it 🤦♀️ They were all exposed at the same event.
My kids just had a snotty nose/cough and has been off school for over a week. Was he otherwise well and bouncing of the walls having to stay at home? Yup. Was I getting frustrated that his brother was constantly trying to get out of going to school too? Yup. Did anyone else in our house get sick? No... But we could have, and it might have been covid, and if he hadn't stayed home from school he could have spread it to others, even just the snotty nose and cough could have been bad enough for one of his classmates.
This is heartbreaking. I wish I could believe that education, that knowing, would change people’s behaviour. But as I get older (well, old) I fear that the problem is not that people are getting ignorant, it’s that they are getting meaner. I don’t think for a minute that people in some golden age used to feel empathy and consider others in their decisions all the time, but I’m pretty sure more of them believed that we should, and at least tried to some of the time. The attitudes your stories describe encountering are not just careless, they’re bloody heartless.
Reading all your stories is so saddening, but there should be a high profile magazine article about your experiences, to educate people!
I'm so sorry to all of you going through this. Aroha nui.
Thank you as always
Gosh, this was depressing AND important to read. It takes me straight back to the health anxiety I thought I had escaped from! The first time we left NICU with our full-term 'that was a bloody close call and we are so lucky this baby survived' miracle baby was to go to the MRI, and on the way back to the ward some random person touched her and exposed her to germs! I told them off, but still feel angry that someone felt their right to do what they want trumped our right to be safe. And I feel like that with Covid too!
Heartbreaking. I wear a mask even while socialising, I sip or nibble lifting the bottom of it. But I'm 66 and don't give a stuff about what others think. My heart breaks for children who need or want to mask out of concern for their own or loved ones' health. People I know who have largely dropped mask wearing (except when round me) are dropping like flies with a flu I've heard described as 10 times worse than their Covid experience. For someone with moderately severe lung disease, sarcoidosis and Guillain Barre (both autoimmune conditions), I really appreciate people who keep masks on indoors especially. I know who amongst a crowd actually cares whether their choices can harm others.
Thank you Emily. And bloody hell those smug busybodies are enraging! It’s one level of awful to refuse to mask but it’s another to tell others they don’t need to and to try to bully them!
Sending love.
Thank you for reminding me why I need to keep wearing my mask. It's good to have the reminders.
Thanks for sharing these perspectives Emily