Thank you for taking the time to write this. I read every word, nodding the entire time. I deal with a lot of stupid people who think that wearing a mask is infringing on their rights. That following CDC guidelines is living in fear and so that isn't really living. I'm exhausted from being socially isolated and beyond words angry as I watch these same people prolonging the time that I will need to stay isolated. But I do it because I couldn't live with myself if my careless actions caused someone else to catch covid and die. And I do it to try to ease the burden, even just a little bit, on the healthcare workers. I loved every word you wrote. Thank you.
Thank you so much for writing this! My family and I have been hold up in our house since March and of course it's wearing very, very thin. Then my wife gets on Facebook and sees all these people carrying on with life as normal. Picture after picture of gatherings, restaurant outings, weddings...without a mask in sight. She asks (rightfully) "why are we taking such extreme measures? Why aren't we living our lives just a little bit more in the open?" And I can only respond "Because I don't want any of us to get sick and possibly die AND I don't want any of us to be responsible for someone else's sickness or death." This debate has gone on for months and I sometimes start questioning my own position. "Maybe we could go out a bit more, masked of course. Maybe we could visit a restaurant -- they're all open!" All that has changed this week. Those people on Facebook? They're all catching Covid now. Scores of them. We're originally from the Atlanta metro area but live out-of-state so most of these people are in Georgia. Given the hospital situation there (spoiler: it is bah-leek) many of them are going to get sub-optimal care. And some are sadly going to die, not just from Covid but from other things that would be survivable if the health care system wasn't teetering on the brink of collapse. So thank you again - for steeling our resolve to stay home and for making me feel a little better about being a hardass about it. And thank you for being there on the front lines with your patients in their hour of need. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Thank you for this. I really like it and agree with it, and I thank you for your ICU service, for what that's worth. I'm lucky enough to have parents on the same side politically as you & me.
I was of precisely the same "the GOP is fully evil enough to let people like me die, but they'd never kill *their own voters.* We have an insane death cult of 70 million, and we have dangerous criminals walking free. The normal solutions don't seem to be working, and I don't know how we survive with a death cult that large.
I feel for you. There's a whole lot of stupid in this world. It's a pandemic that no one knows about.
You've done everything you can for the right reasons. You are a hero. Don't talk yourself out of that fact. We are reliant upon the work that people like you do to save us from our stupid choices.
Personally I'm masked up all the time. I got called by my ex asking if I could pick up my step daughter as she felt ill at work. I did so but was masked up as she was. I took her for a test and she's positive. I got exposed out of caring. I go to get tested tomorrow. I feel fine but that doesn't mean anything.
God bless you for what you do. You don't have to forgive your parents for their choices. Just try to stay on good terms,
Is there a site – a forum, perhaps, or a Facebook group – where nurses, doctors, EMTs, or others in the know share their experiences, frustrations, etc? I think that the public should see (but not be able to trollishly comment on) the posts that health care workers want them to see.
I feel this could be a good resource to point out to people living in misinformation or denial. Don't believe me? Believe health care workers. Maybe some people (like in your family) still won't get it. But some will.
I loved this essay. I'm not a health care worker and I'm fed up of trying to speak about basic science on social media so I can't begin to understand your frustration.
Thank you for taking the time to write this. I read every word, nodding the entire time. I deal with a lot of stupid people who think that wearing a mask is infringing on their rights. That following CDC guidelines is living in fear and so that isn't really living. I'm exhausted from being socially isolated and beyond words angry as I watch these same people prolonging the time that I will need to stay isolated. But I do it because I couldn't live with myself if my careless actions caused someone else to catch covid and die. And I do it to try to ease the burden, even just a little bit, on the healthcare workers. I loved every word you wrote. Thank you.
Thank you so much for writing this! My family and I have been hold up in our house since March and of course it's wearing very, very thin. Then my wife gets on Facebook and sees all these people carrying on with life as normal. Picture after picture of gatherings, restaurant outings, weddings...without a mask in sight. She asks (rightfully) "why are we taking such extreme measures? Why aren't we living our lives just a little bit more in the open?" And I can only respond "Because I don't want any of us to get sick and possibly die AND I don't want any of us to be responsible for someone else's sickness or death." This debate has gone on for months and I sometimes start questioning my own position. "Maybe we could go out a bit more, masked of course. Maybe we could visit a restaurant -- they're all open!" All that has changed this week. Those people on Facebook? They're all catching Covid now. Scores of them. We're originally from the Atlanta metro area but live out-of-state so most of these people are in Georgia. Given the hospital situation there (spoiler: it is bah-leek) many of them are going to get sub-optimal care. And some are sadly going to die, not just from Covid but from other things that would be survivable if the health care system wasn't teetering on the brink of collapse. So thank you again - for steeling our resolve to stay home and for making me feel a little better about being a hardass about it. And thank you for being there on the front lines with your patients in their hour of need. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Thank you for this. I really like it and agree with it, and I thank you for your ICU service, for what that's worth. I'm lucky enough to have parents on the same side politically as you & me.
I was of precisely the same "the GOP is fully evil enough to let people like me die, but they'd never kill *their own voters.* We have an insane death cult of 70 million, and we have dangerous criminals walking free. The normal solutions don't seem to be working, and I don't know how we survive with a death cult that large.
I feel for you. There's a whole lot of stupid in this world. It's a pandemic that no one knows about.
You've done everything you can for the right reasons. You are a hero. Don't talk yourself out of that fact. We are reliant upon the work that people like you do to save us from our stupid choices.
Personally I'm masked up all the time. I got called by my ex asking if I could pick up my step daughter as she felt ill at work. I did so but was masked up as she was. I took her for a test and she's positive. I got exposed out of caring. I go to get tested tomorrow. I feel fine but that doesn't mean anything.
God bless you for what you do. You don't have to forgive your parents for their choices. Just try to stay on good terms,
Is there a site – a forum, perhaps, or a Facebook group – where nurses, doctors, EMTs, or others in the know share their experiences, frustrations, etc? I think that the public should see (but not be able to trollishly comment on) the posts that health care workers want them to see.
I feel this could be a good resource to point out to people living in misinformation or denial. Don't believe me? Believe health care workers. Maybe some people (like in your family) still won't get it. But some will.
I loved this essay. I'm not a health care worker and I'm fed up of trying to speak about basic science on social media so I can't begin to understand your frustration.