Pandemic

 My daughter and family (husband and two daughters) flew off to Portland, Oregon a couple of weeks or so ago. They called the next day to report the family had COVID and wondered what next they should do. Quarantined to the hotel, they had airline tickets to return home by the end of the week. They could not use them. They could not go out and about due to the quarantine, so what could they do?

I suggested grabbing their laptop (yes every modern family travels with their laptop!) and research their options. They learned they could rent a car and drive the 2000 miles home. That’s what they did. An impromptu family road trip.

They saw Oregon from a car, then Washington state in all of its diverse beauty, then Idaho and the Rockies, then into Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois. They saw landscapes they had never experienced. Although sick, they still enjoyed each other’s company and the experiences offered by road travel.

Their youngest daughter, Kira, a freshman this fall in college, never tested positive for COVID. Still hasn’t and displayed no symptoms. The other three, however, boy howdee!

I asked if they wore their masks in the airport in Chicago; yes. I asked if they did so on the plane; yes. Were others wearing masks? No. Most were not, and almost no one on the plane, so they took theirs off, too. In truth, dad had symptoms on Friday but thought it was a cold. By Sunday morning he knew differently. All of them have had COVID early on in the pandemic, so, they knew what to look for.

And yes, I drove them to O’Hare and was exposed. Three days later I tested negative for the virus.

Well, I report this story to you because it seems most people are walking about freely without masks. Yet the CDC reports a strong uptick in COVID positives. The latest strain of the virus is moving throughout the nation without much resistance from us. We still wear our masks in our apartment building (halls, elevator, garage), in stores and restaurants, even while pumping gas. And yes, we still use sanitizers throughout the day and wash our hands thoroughly often.

We are vaccinated, boosted (twice) and still take precautions. We are old (late 70’s) and have compromised immune systems. It is in our interest (and yours) that we protect ourselves. Yet we put up with comments like “why are you wearing a screen door on your face?”

Ignorance is like that. Bold. Rude. Wrong-headed. Even stupid.

Don’t be like that. Protect yourself. And others. The Pandemic is not yet finished with us.

July 29, 2022

 

 

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