Rant #2,597: The Safety Dance

Terrible, terrible, terrible.
 
It has been reported that coronavirus deaths have nearly reached past 500.000 in this country, not only the largest number of deaths of any country in the world, but more deaths than there were in World Wars I and II and the Vietnam War combined.
 
I think that it is kind of wrong to compare deaths during a pandemic with deaths during war-time conflicts, but I guess if you are going to label what we are going through as being a “war” with an invisible enemy, then you can make such a comparison.
 
The good news is that overall, new cases of the disease are down sharply and deaths are slowing.
 
You would think that has to do with the vaccine rollout, but with so many people still desiring to get inoculated and who can’t get their vaccine, you even have to question if the vaccine is working to lower the toll, or maybe just that people have become smarter a year after the pandemic hit here, wearing masks, practicing social distancing, etc.
 
I just don’t know at this point in time. More and more things are opening up, but you have to pay a price for these openings.
 
Stadiums and arenas are opening up for business again, at lesser capacities, but you have to go through a mountain of things to attend, including being tested before you arrive at the venue and sometimes even when you are there, increased contact tracing, etc.
 
It is a hassle, one that personally, I can live without.
 
I would love to attend a basketball game or a baseball game or a concert, but the last thing I want to do is to go through medical procedures in order to do so.
 
I know others will jump at the chance to get out and support their teams or their favorite artists, but me, I am very happy to watch what I can watch from the comfort of my home on television.
 
And my family and I have not eaten out in a restaurant in many months. My wife, in particular, is hesitant to do so, so we pickup food and eat it at home.
 
I know some people would vehemently disagree with my stance, but funny, such a stance has kept myself and my family disease-free for the entirety of the pandemic.
 
My wife, my son and myself have not even had a cold since this thing started, so whatever we are doing appears to be working, so who’s to argue?
 
We haven’t exactly sat at the kitchen table with our hands folded for the past year.
 
We have gone out to shop, gone to our doctors, gone to bowling alleys and other recreational places where our son participates.
 
We have enjoyed occasions with our immediate families, and we have gone out to other places when it is necessary.
 
We pickup food on the weekend at our local restaurants and fast food venues, and we go out when we feel it is necessary, like to shovel snow, take out the garbage, and things like that.

And most importantly, my wife and son have ventured out to work, and done their jobs while interacting directly with the public.
 
But unlike others, we still really haven’t spread ourselves around as much, which has evidently been beneficial.
 
I won’t argue with others who have treated the pandemic as something that is simply a nuisance, but for us, our lifestyle that we have exhibited has treated us just fine.
 
And over the weekend, we were told that we can expect to wear masks through 2022, at the very least, and we were told last week that two is better than one.
 
You have to draw the limit somewhere, and my family ahs decided that we will continue to wear masks when we venture from the house, but one is what we will wear.
 
We can’t breathe well in one—I know that I can’t—and two is a bit much. To be honest with you.
 
We have seen people in supermarkets not even wearing a single mask, and I have to wonder about their sanity, but one mask is fine with me, and unless it is mandated, we won’t be wearing two of them anytime soon.
 
Now, when do we get our vaccines?
 
Since this rollout was just so poorly planned on every level, we are now being told that the general population will be able to get inoculated by the late summer.
 
If you believe that, I do have a bridge to sell you dirt cheap.
 
I feel—and believe me, I hope I am wrong about this—that we won’t be able to get the vaccine until the fall or even the early winter.
 
Too much double talk, too many delays, and again, if you believe anything that we are being told, then really, you are quite gullible.
 
I am personally ready to take the vaccine whenever it is available to me.
 
Funny, when I took my mother to get vaccinated, the nurses there asked me if I got my shot, and I told them point blank:
 
“No. I am too young and in the wrong line of work.”
 
Maybe if I had lied, I could have skirted in there and gotten my vaccine, but I was so focused on getting my mother inoculated, it actually never crossed my mind.
 
One nurse there even told me that I should have asked if they had any leftover vaccines that needed to be used before they expired, but I felt that this was not the time to be looking out for myself, so I didn’t do it.
 
In retrospect, maybe I should have.
 
But since I didn’t, I will wait in line like everyone else.
 
And boy, is that a long, long line.