We’re Afraid We Might Die
The unspoken fear and hope
Death
We all know it’s going to happen someday, but the idea of dying from a once in a hundred-year virus is disarming.
We’ve accepted the risk of dying in a plane or car crash or getting a fatal disease but an invisible, potentially deadly protein is not in our mental wheelhouse. Particularly one that is either transferred from wild animals or was being researched in a laboratory and got out of hand.
When this virus hits the lungs, it sometimes necessitates placing someone on a ventilator, for which they may not awake.
How do we prepare for that possibility?
Some are securing life insurance policies. Others are getting vaccinated or taking particular vitamins to boost their immune system.
Hopefully, we’ll reach some form of herd immunity. There is a scenario where it mutates for the next few years and we lose far more people than imagined.
Some will change their lives permanently and live more secluded lifestyles.
Others will throw caution to the wind and return to their pre-pandemic ways.
Primary and secondary education
Perhaps it’s blissful ignorance, but it feels like people are beginning to believe we can get back to a concert-going, stadium-attending, normal classroom-style environment.
There are some states suffering high percentages of viral transmission in their schools with high student absentee rates. Some schools will close again.
School districts know virtual schooling cannot provide ideal structured learning. It may be that traditional classrooms can’t either but there is a world of difference between a student sitting in a small wooden entrapment of a desk in front of you, and a nonexistent digital photon.
If needed, schools should close, but let’s not pretend virtual is ideal for many students….or teachers.
And let’s not underestimate the risks for students and teachers, particularly those with existing medical conditions.
Thankfully, most won’t get this, or, if they do, will easily survive it.
Vaccines and masks
I hate masks and was dubious about the vaccine, but believe both are necessary. I live in a somewhat rural environment so I can keep a good 6 feet social distancing in most situations.
In closed indoor spaces, I wear a mask.
We have to follow health guidelines while not making it punitive for those who don’t.
We will live, with aftereffects
Thankfully, most of us will survive this pandemic but there are permanent factors. Some have long-term damage to their cardiovascular system or cognitive deficits.
It is clear many jobs will not return or find willing workers. Some will work from home indefinitely.
The pandemic has further consolidated wealth, making it more difficult for the underclass to break into the middle class. But we will overcome this pandemic and be able to enjoy the social freedoms we’ve missed.
Time
Time will get us through, being prudent and philosophical since we don’t know when this will end.
Our biggest challenge post virus will be finding common ground on our political and socio-economic differences.
We’re entering an era, with limited jobs and careers for those without precise, specific, technologically-oriented, skills. With wealth consolidating more people will fall further behind.
Some kind of agreed-upon universal income or benefit….perhaps a housing stipend and health insurance, guaranteeing a roof over your head and medicine if you’re sick….would be smart.
Survival means we acknowledge those less fortunate than us. We can’t expect those who’ve had COVID, lost their jobs, small businesses, homes, or loved ones, to just suck it up.
Of course, the fear of death is real. But we need to take care of each other. The best tribute to those we lost is properly caring for those who remain.
Earth is billions of years old. It’s going to be around for another 7.5 billion years.
We will too.