Which means that when it came to the Covid-19 pandemic, I was well-suited for the change at the beginning. I am very blessed (knock on wood) that I have a job that I can work from home (without pressure from my employer), that I have an income where I don't need a second job and can purchase multiple weeks of supplies in advance, and am very good at routine, so I don't get stir crazy easily. I have some downsides in the sense that it is very lonely during the pandemic (I have spent in the past 100 days time with people five or six of those days, at most, and that once a month situation seems to be the schedule for the foreseeable future)-that is hard, and has gotten harder as less people check in on you as the months go by. But with no other people around, I have less risk of exposure from them having to go to their jobs, so it's a double-edged sword.
And I have taken to the rules of Covid extremely well. I wash my hands the second I come into my house, whether it was after buying groceries or simply going to the mailbox, for the full twenty seconds. I wear a mask every time I leave my property or car, even if it's for something as short as pumping gas. I have only gone out to public places to buy groceries, gas, and once to get my annual physical. Suffice it to say, while I am not completely without exposure (anyone can get Covid if they're leaving their house), I am doing everything I can to minimize my exposure and exposure for others with whom I come into contact.
So you might think I would come into the conversation about leaving your house with a pretty matter-of-fact attitude, but I'm finding this situation to be complicated. I have seen, in the past week, behavior on social media, both from people I merely follow and from people I know in real life, that goes beyond the bounds of what I'm comfortable with, and in some cases, what I don't think anyone should be comfortable with, in terms of relaxing social distancing. I have also seen the public shaming posts, and the conversation about whether or not this is accomplishing anything, or if this is the right venue to discuss this behavior. So I'm going to sort out my thoughts here, and share why I think this is a tough discussion.
To begin, I don't blame any person specifically who I am seeing for the urge to go outside. Forgetting for a second that personal contact is a human essential, something we need psychologically, the reality is that we spent three months in isolation. Many people lost their jobs and their businesses. They missed weddings, funerals, vacations, births. They spent money on supplies, adapted their lives to being secluded, and put their health at risk (all of that sedentary lifestyle isn't great for you), so that as few people would get sick as possible. The Trump administration and the administrations of many states, did jack shit with those people's sacrifice. We willingly hurt the economy and our lives in hopes of the greater good coming through, but Trump was not up-the-task, and squandered all we gave up. Trump's inability to turn us giving up the most important parts of our lives and do anything is truly one of the great moral failings of any US President.
So without leadership, and without someone stepping forward (like a governor or mayor) insuring that people are socially distancing and that their sacrifices are worth it, there's no one giving an indication of when this might end, and what that sacrifice is getting us. If Trump is just wasting our time, and the governor of your state isn't doing anything to stop Covid from spreading (other than well wishes), what's the point? This isn't a glib question-if you feel you are unlikely to suffer too many consequences of contracting the virus, and your sacrifice feels like it's in vain (because that is certainly the way the president is framing it and treating it), I don't blame people for asking this question.
But the flip side is, we do know that there is a result of these actions. We may have a spoiled, needy child in the White House, but the scientists are right-social distancing works. It's the only way that the numbers stay down before we get a cure or a vaccine (which is probably 6-12 months off). And in the meantime, people are going to die. People we know. People we love. People who took risks because they didn't see that their actions have consequences, and perhaps more tragically, people who didn't realize the ones they trusted had such little regard for their well-being.
All actions during Covid come with a price. Some are scarier than others. You read the research and you make your decisions. I'm going to attempt to go back to the gym on a very limited basis in mid-July (wearing a mask, and probably gloves, and only once a week to get routines I can do from home). I am going to be very open with anyone I might be seeing that this is occurring. I am doing this because I want to ensure the trainer who has worked with me for the past three years is able to pay his bills, and because I need to lose weight (like I said, there are other health side effects of this pandemic that we aren't tracking). But I'm aware this might not be the most responsible thing for me, and it is something I think about & worry about every day.
But I'm not going to judge those who are behaving responsibly, even if they are extending what three months ago would have been inappropriate. People who are going to socially-distanced plays, movie theaters, gyms, hair salons, medical appointments-these industries might not last without support in the United States, and they aren't getting that from politicians (either through bailouts or through responsible, pragmatic leadership). They also are appointments that you can't put off forever, or could hurt your health in other ways if you don't eventually do them.
I think it's important to do all we can to socially distance. I think this includes things like putting off a party or not having the family events the way we planned them to be. I think if you're being publicly shamed for being reckless, the first response shouldn't be to attack back, but perhaps to have some introspection of if what you did was irresponsible, even if you had good intentions. But I also think we aren't going to get a reprieve from this until we have a new administration, and most businesses that don't have a way to adapt (the arts, non-emergency public health, athletics, basically anything in the service industry) should be given leeway to try to meet these challenges safely rather than us dismissing them out of hand.
This isn't easy. There are behaviors like wearing masks and socially distancing that we should all be employing. If businesses are doing things like takeout or contactless delivery, we should applaud and take advantage of these to protect their employees, even if it costs a little extra. And we should have some agreement that common sense needs to be employed; to paraphrase Potter Stewart, I might not be able to define when a party or social gathering has crossed the line into unsafe, but "I know it when I see it." But we have to admit that while there are clear "yes's" and "no's" in this pandemic, there's also a middle ground that we need to apply until we have a president who cares about the American people, and you likely might be more comfortable with something that I am. I think having open, honest conversations about what our limits are, and letting other people make open, honest decisions on how we interact until this is over with each other, is okay. This is how rational people come to decisions, and until Trump leaves office, we need to collectively assume the responsibilities of the adult in the room because no one else is going to.
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