I was gonna write an entirely different post tonight. I finished another “just for fun” read over the weekend, and was gonna do that one last fluffy book review before coming back to more serious topics.
But then I saw this tweet from NBC news:
So I guess it’s back to seriousness sooner rather than later.
Although, in all honestly, I’m not sure what more I have to say aside from.
What the fuck, America?
Let’s be real, here. This huge uptick in cases is the pre-Thanksgiving surge. These numbers don’t include any of the new cases that are going to stem from the more than 9 million folx that traveled through airports last week. Things are only going downhill from here—at least for a while.
As the AP reports:
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told ABC’s “This Week” that the level of infection in the U.S. would not “all of a sudden turn around.”
“So clearly in the next few weeks, we’re going to have the same sort of thing. And perhaps even two or three weeks down the line … we may see a surge upon a surge,” he said.
A surge upon a mother-f*cking surge. How terrifying is THAT?!?
I wish I could be measured or compassionate or helpful in my response to today’s statistic, but that’s not what I’ve got right now.
I’m just angry and I’m sad and I’m scared.
I’m angry at the MAGA crowd. The ones who have treated mask wearing and basic public health measures like it’s a political act. I gotta ask myself: do all y’all mask deniers insist that surgeons working on you shouldn’t wash up or wear masks, either? And, if you understand disease/infection well enough to want those precautions, why the hell don’t you care about COVID precautions?
I’m sad for the healthcare workers who have to take verbal abuse from COVID patients who aren’t willing to accept the reality of their diagnosis. And I’m scared for their health and safety as I worry that the upcoming surge(s) could very well max out the medical facilities in a lot of places.
I’m scared to imagine how many more people will die this winter because of the widespread carelessness and selfishness of so many Americans, and I am sad when I imagine so, so many more families (blood and heart) mourning the loss of a loved one in the coming months. I am sad and scared when I think about the tens or hundreds of thousands of people who might survive COVID but will still suffer the long-term health consequences for years to come.
I am so angry at the “horseshoe effect” that means WAY too many holistic practitioners and wellness professionals are in lockstep with right-wing conspiracy hounds spreading lies about COVID and about appropriate public health measures.* Even once we’re lucky enough to have a vaccine and a vaccine distribution system, the anti-vaxxers could still bollocks up the works.**
The feels like the worst group school project ever. I used to hate those group projects when I was a kid. There’d always be someone—or multiple someones—in the group slacking off, and little brainiac me would usually be the one to put in all the extra work in order to cover for their (lack of) contribution.
Only this time, no amount of extra effort on my part can make up for all the missed and skipped work of the folx acting selfishly and carelessly. There is nothing more I can do the help stop COVID’s spread. I can’t pull this group grade up from failing to A. And for this group project, having the slackers involved is going to get people killed.
So yeah, I might have perspective or philosophy or advice tomorrow. (Or I might just have the escapist book review I was planning to write tonight.)
But right here, right now? All I got is feelings.
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* Just earlier today, I was unfriending someone I knew from Mama Gena’s classes, because she’s spreading lies about mask wearing, and only doubling down when her lies are fact-checked.
** I will admit to some small word-nerd joy in having been introduced to the concept of Conspirituality today…
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Self-Love: It's Just Another Lifestyle Change 
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