Normally I stick with just personal health, writing related, or vacation posts.
But I've hit a point in all the chaos going on in the world that i can't remain silent any more about this.
I'll admit, I did not vote in the last election. Living in Texas, it never really felt like my vote would really matter. I will not make that mistake again.
Texas is at a crossroads in everything that is going on in this country and the time to act is now. Well, actually it was a while ago, but we can't continue doing nothing.
I recently had a friend of mine, younger than me, healthier than anyone I have ever met, contract COVID-19. After her initial recovery, she had a stroke (in her mid-20s) that was due to issues related to the disease. Then, much more recently she had a heart attack. She died.
My mother is at high risk, and I am aware that if CV-19 gets into my household it will be because of me. I'm the only one at my house that has to go out every day to work with people.
I work in a store that deals mainly with used merchandise in an area that's COVID numbers are rising rapidly. Just today, I had to ask six people to please put their masks back on. Two of them had the ones that slide down and it was obviously unintentional, but the other four? Three of them apologized and put it back on.
The last one, though. He walked into the store with his mask on and pretty quickly took it off. He and his friend were laughing as they went into the alcove behind where I was putting things on the shelf. I overheard him talking about how he and "most people he knows aren't afraid of the virus or dying" and he always takes it off in stores and no one does anything. I, of course, informed him that I would do something. We would not allow him to be in our store without a mask on and if he refused to put it on we would ask him to leave and if he refused then we would call the police.
He laughed and at least temporarily kept it on, while loudly talking about how no other store is really enforcing the masks, nor are the gyms.
My manager doesn't seem to ask anyone to please put their masks on. It might risk a sale at a time we desperately need the money. The whole having the mask over the nose thing adds an almost impossible element to the whole thing.
As the numbers continue to rise in Texas, I'm not too proud to announce I'm scared. As the hospitals grow more and more full and their staff and resources grow even more limited, things are only going to get worse unless something is done. And quickly.
Because no matter what is said, people aren't doing what they're supposed to be. Masks aren't 100% effective, but they're better than nothing.
I will admit, when all of this started, I was concerned. With friends all over the globe, including the harder hit countries, I was definitely worried for their safety.
Goodness, even when it started hitting America and states shut down, I was only a bit worried.
I live in Texas, I thought. The people here will do whatever it takes to protect our own.
I was wrong. And I don't like to admit it when it comes to this.
I've seen people band together to help one another through hurricanes, through floods. We are Texans. And we are Texas proud. So I thought this would be like anything else. At least here we would work together to keep our own safe and healthy. We've sacrificed before for our fellow Texans, so why would this be any different?
Apparently, it is different though because everything about this has been turned political. "They can't take away our freedoms!" "This is the beginning of the end of our freedoms!"
This is not about our freedoms. When public health has been a problem in the past, the country has taken liberties for the greater good. Temporarily.
When the Spanish Flu hit, we shut down most of the country. People were required to wear masks. Public gatherings were canceled (except for a few exceptions which led to worse outbreaks).
Ships used to be blocked in ports if there was a risk of a disease. For goodness sake, some of those ships were destroyed without being allowed to be unloaded because of a risk of an infectious disease.
It is all temporary until we have this virus under control.
I am aware that we won't be completely able to control it until there is a vaccine but we can at least get things less chaotic. Calm things down so our hospitals can handle those who do get sick.
"If you're so scared of dying just stay in then!"
I'm not scared of dying. I am scared of bringing the illness home and potentially causing the death of someone I care about.
That's the one thing I'm hearing argued about a lot though, the death rate.
"It's less than 1%!"
If dying were the only risk that this disease held then maybe it wouldn't be quite as bad (although anyone dying from something that can be prevented by simple human decency is one person too many).
But from just what is known about COVID-19 shows it has so many lasting effects, from heart damage, lung damage, thickening of blood, and that's just what we know so far. This disease is still too new to really know the long term issues it will cause, so the laissez-faire attitude many people are adopting is even more concerning.
No not many people die, but many will have lifelong issues because of it.
We are just starting see what this is capable of.
At this point, hope isn't enough. We can't hope this will get better. We can't hope everyone will just somehow build an immunity to it.
And apparently we can't hope that Texans as a whole would find that pride in helping one another in times of need. And hope it would be enough to get everyone to do the simple things of staying home when possible and wearing a mask.
Hope isn't doing anything but causing this to becoming a situation rapidly falling out of control.
We need action. Something needs to be done.
No, I don't want the state to be shut down again. What I want is those in charge to admit they made a mistake opening us up to early. If our governor is too scared to do something, then give the cities the ability to do something. (Note: I would not want to be in Governor Abbott's shoes right now. He's in the epitome of being stuck between a rock and a hard place. No matter what he does, people will be angry and he will lose votes.)
I used to be proud of my home. Of my state and my country.
Now? I just hope we can make it out of this with the least amount of deaths and debilitating health issues as possible.
I am watching how those in charge of this country are reacting. As someone who has never voted before, I'll be sure my voice is heard from here on out. I won't be so complacent about who is in charge. If this situation has taught me anything, it is that those in power can actually have an affect on my life.
I just wish it hadn't come to something like this for that realization to actually occur.
Until next time,
Hopefully it'll be a happier subject,
Shelby.
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