Opinion
Covid-19 Conversations Are Starting To Fill Me With Rage
First, there was worry. Then, it was fear (a teeny bit). Now, I just want to pull my hair out every time I get a message from someone about somebody else not doing the right thing to keep everyone safe. Can we just calm our tits down?
What I’m going to say here will make many of you uncomfortable, angry, and offended. I sympathise with those who have been infected and if you have someone who got infected, I empathise that you must be having a hard time dealing with it.
BUT.
I’ve just about had it with all that nagging, whining, moaning, and guilt-tripping.
It’s like … there’s a colony of people out there determined to drown the rest of us in FEAR. “Hey, you think it’s business as usual? Let me swarm your social media with news about lockdowns and new infection numbers! And, if that doesn’t scare you, let me tell you who has been issued a Quarantine/Stay At Home/Leave of Absence order!”
Every day, I log into my Facebook only to be greeted with posts sharing news about new infected cases, about who flouted a quarantine order, about how someone is out there busy being a super-spreader. Then I go to work and I get bombarded by Whatsapp messages from friends complaining how other human beings are being selfish and stupid.
Is there NOTHING ELSE you’d rather talk about? Like … how did the human race deal with other outbreaks when there was NO social media?
I don’t know. It’s midnight and I’m probably failing — very badly — at articulating my frustration. For the rest of us who are healthy at this moment, is PARANOIA the right way to deal with this?
Yes, I get it. Be responsible. Stay away from crowded areas. Cancel all non-essential travelling. If you are feeling off, STAY HOME.
Be safe. Wash your hands. Cover your mouth when you sneeze or cough.
Be smart. Don’t agree to attend social functions because you feel you need to “give face”. Don’t go to places where you know you’ll be covered by people (yes, like body-to-body close contact dancing that kinda of shit).
But be scared and think you need to cut yourself off from the world? It’s totally UNNECESSARY. I mean, should I stop going to the gym? Should I stop eating out? No! And if the bus is not packed with people, I will board it and remember to use a hand sanitiser when I alight.
I’m not disagreeing about the ways to keep us all safe. What I’m pissed about is everyone being so unnecessarily dramatic. And to those who’ve taken it upon themselves to give daily lessons on “how to be socially responsible”, please go and collect your Good Citizen Award at your nearest police post. I don’t have one for you because I don’t care what you’ve got to say.
There’s got to be a STOP line.
There’s got to be a point where we decide how we’re going to deal with this new normal. Yes, it is the NEW NORMAL. As we encroach upon rainforests and use new drugs on the stuff we eat, new diseases are going to come up and wreak havoc on the population. The only way to move forward is to go about business as usual BUT with a greater sense of self-awareness, sensibility, and sensitivity. STOP freaking out and start taking back control of how life is going to be led.
I refuse to bend down to Fear.
Not because I’m a stupid teenager who think I have the right to go for spring break.
I don’t see why I should fear when I’m doing the right thing. I don’t see why there’s anything to be fearful of if we can all be guided by compassion, by generosity, and by empathy.
Stop saying the world has gone mad. It’s simply reached a stage where we humans have set off a chain of events so catastrophic, we are now paying our dues. This is our chance to make a REAL CHANGE.
If we insist that things should go back to the way they used to be, that’s when we are truly fucked.
