There's no real point to this, because I'm not sure what the point should be, and above all, I am a "full truth, warts and all" kind of guy so I would never say "don't say this"... but I can't help but thinking that the "I could have been worse off" message is lost in the din of "I got COVID even though I was fully vaccinated". It's like the retraction of the front page story that appears four days later on page 16. The numbers are STAGGERINGLY in favor of NOT getting COVID if you've got the vaccine, but nonetheless, I can't help but think that the idea that "I could still get it even with the jab, and at least my DNA won't be scrambled eggs" is just entrenching those who are hesitant.
It defies logic though, doesn't it? It's like saying "I got in a motorcycle accident, and only got a mild concussion thanks to my helmet", and someone's reaction being "well, if I'm gonna get a concussion anyway, what's the point of wearing a helmet?"
And yet people do just that.
I hit a tree head on at about 65 mph when I was 21, totaled the car and walked away. I was not wearing a seatbelt, and even though I was almost stabbed by the gear shift lever, I rolled to the side and curled up and survived. I didn't wear a seatbelt with any regularity (unless I had to) for almost 15 years. I wear one regularly now, but that's almost entirely due to my kid, not any experience I had. I know I'm not "everyman" but the psychology is similar; as I've said countless times, we - humans - are not good at judging relative risk.
Is it similar to how people wait till the last minute to actually go see a doctor to find out it's too late, and if they were to have assessed the risk earlier and went in at that first sign of discomfort or pain, the doctor may have been able to prevent the situation from becoming a long-term health issue, like one that makes people susceptible to covid-19 and it's variants.
It's why it's important to be pointing the finger at yourself first before you point it at anyone else. I for one do not expect anything from anyone. If I want it, I'll do it, but I will be one to admit that most of the times it comes to laziness and not having the drive to strive. I'd rather be at home with all the comforts that surround me in the square box on the ground. What's the consequence? Things don't get done, and things get left to wither. This was me a year ago before I stopped drinking, and even smoking cigarettes. Now, I am out there more so than before, I am gardening, walking outside more, and even beginning to eat more nutritiously and I am noticing a difference, I am finding I can not eat spicy foods as much anymore as I get discomfort after eating these foods, and this was the damage I chose to do to myself from drinking excessive amounts of alcohol.
See here, I am accepting that it is from my own volition that I did this to myself, that no one else was to blame but me. I am accepting the consequences for my past decisions. If I ended up being more susceptible to many forms of illness, I am not blaming anyone else if my health ends up getting bad, I am not blaming anyone If I do end up getting Covid-19 and dying.
It's great and all that you do care for me and don't want me to die. But, I do not need that care, as I am capable of caring for myself. What I also do have is compassion and will embrace that care you do have for me, I respect that and admire it.
What many people are doing is trying to find some thing/person to place some blame of catching covid-19. Why? Why must someone be blamed for it? Why not self-reflect and say something like "wow, I guess I wasn't healthy as I thought and not as invincible as I figured."
I say this because I am finding that there are many, many, many different reasons for why people chose to take the vaccine and why people decided not to. It's a lot more than simply being, as Stads puts it, Black and White, Right and Left, Caring for another and not caring for another.
Topic: Coronavirus Thread v.2 (Read 195492 times)
