With very few exceptions, I have not posted in the COVID threads on this board. I have read many of the threads, and learned a lot from some posters. In general though, the "debates" invariably turn political, or devolve into some/many people talking past each other, all the while cherry picking stats or citing to studies they think support them (often mistakenly) to make various points. I have chosen to stay detached from those...until now.
I'm angry. My 78 year old sister-in-law (my wife's sister) has COVID, and is currently hospitalized and on a ventilator. While she is a bit better today (just a bit, but we're trying to take encouragement from any good news), she is a long, long way from home. Yesterday, her husband and sons (my brother-in-law and nephews), deeply religious Catholics all, had last rites administered. Hopefully, she recovers and has no lasting effects. However, even if she does, and especially if she doesn't, this whole ordeal could very likely have been avoided if only people didn't place personal choices above responsibility to others.
I have known my sister-in-law, my brother-in-law and my nephews for 47 years, since shortly after my wife and I started going out together. They are kind, charitable people who normally think of others far more than they think of themselves. This is not meant to chastise them in general--I love them and care for them, and they are suffering. But I and my wife both have the feeling that we want to hug her and her family, and, at the same time, scream at them.
You see, my sister-in-law chose not to be vaccinated. Her sons also chose not to be vaccinated, as did Son 2's wife (son 1 is unmarried). Son 2 and his wife further chose to take their kids (too young to be vaccinated, but not too young to get, or transmit, COVID) to Florida for spring break (flying both ways) without being vaccinated, and then let their kids go to a neighborhood birthday party with friends upon their return. The whole family (sister-in-law, brother-in-law, Son 1, Son2 and his family) then chose to get together in person for Easter dinner, this despite the fact that at least one person in Son 2's family was already.feeling sick.
Everyone in Son 2's family tested positive shortly after Easter. Nobody knows for sure how it happened, but they believe, as do their doctors, that it happened as a result of one or both of the spring break or birthday party cycle, from kids rand/or adults unning around sans maks or distancing. My sister-in-law sister-in-law began feeling badly about a week after Easter (well within the incubation period), and really had very little other contact with people wherein she could have been exposed.
Well, you say, she chose not to be vaccinated. And to get together with her family. So hey, It's all about the "freedom" every person has to make choices for themselves, correct? Except that's not the case. Her husband, who did get vaccinated, but couldn't make his wife of 50+ years do so, is completely devastated, and wondering how he's going to go on if she passes away. Her family is living with the fact that their choices likely contributed to/caused what has happened to her. My wife, her other sister, their brother, and others, like me, who are related, feel horrible. And those are emotional pain--all of this, of course, doesn't even include the people who were exposed because of the birthday party they let their kids attend.
The point is that there are consequences--serious consequences--to others from many choices you make in your own self-interest. Clearly, there is risk in everything we do, but there are gradations. "Freedom" carries with it responsibility to others. I've read a lot of posts from posters who proclaim that they will "live their lives, and if you're 'scared', stay in your basement." No--you don't get to live your life and my life too, by forcing me to take actions to avoid you if you're acting irresponsibly. Or, as is the case here, shatter lives of those who act responsibly like my brother-in-law did. Suicide, substance abuse, etc are "choices" people make which are not victimless because others are affected. This applies even more to health issues, where victims can literally be life and death. I don't care what your political views are. I don't care what you think of the efficacy or danger of the vaccine, the severity of COVID, or the response of government or private individuals to same. You have the right to choose your belief system. However, when those beliefs impinge on others, "freedom" stops being unlimited.
I'm angry. My 78 year old sister-in-law (my wife's sister) has COVID, and is currently hospitalized and on a ventilator. While she is a bit better today (just a bit, but we're trying to take encouragement from any good news), she is a long, long way from home. Yesterday, her husband and sons (my brother-in-law and nephews), deeply religious Catholics all, had last rites administered. Hopefully, she recovers and has no lasting effects. However, even if she does, and especially if she doesn't, this whole ordeal could very likely have been avoided if only people didn't place personal choices above responsibility to others.
I have known my sister-in-law, my brother-in-law and my nephews for 47 years, since shortly after my wife and I started going out together. They are kind, charitable people who normally think of others far more than they think of themselves. This is not meant to chastise them in general--I love them and care for them, and they are suffering. But I and my wife both have the feeling that we want to hug her and her family, and, at the same time, scream at them.
You see, my sister-in-law chose not to be vaccinated. Her sons also chose not to be vaccinated, as did Son 2's wife (son 1 is unmarried). Son 2 and his wife further chose to take their kids (too young to be vaccinated, but not too young to get, or transmit, COVID) to Florida for spring break (flying both ways) without being vaccinated, and then let their kids go to a neighborhood birthday party with friends upon their return. The whole family (sister-in-law, brother-in-law, Son 1, Son2 and his family) then chose to get together in person for Easter dinner, this despite the fact that at least one person in Son 2's family was already.feeling sick.
Everyone in Son 2's family tested positive shortly after Easter. Nobody knows for sure how it happened, but they believe, as do their doctors, that it happened as a result of one or both of the spring break or birthday party cycle, from kids rand/or adults unning around sans maks or distancing. My sister-in-law sister-in-law began feeling badly about a week after Easter (well within the incubation period), and really had very little other contact with people wherein she could have been exposed.
Well, you say, she chose not to be vaccinated. And to get together with her family. So hey, It's all about the "freedom" every person has to make choices for themselves, correct? Except that's not the case. Her husband, who did get vaccinated, but couldn't make his wife of 50+ years do so, is completely devastated, and wondering how he's going to go on if she passes away. Her family is living with the fact that their choices likely contributed to/caused what has happened to her. My wife, her other sister, their brother, and others, like me, who are related, feel horrible. And those are emotional pain--all of this, of course, doesn't even include the people who were exposed because of the birthday party they let their kids attend.
The point is that there are consequences--serious consequences--to others from many choices you make in your own self-interest. Clearly, there is risk in everything we do, but there are gradations. "Freedom" carries with it responsibility to others. I've read a lot of posts from posters who proclaim that they will "live their lives, and if you're 'scared', stay in your basement." No--you don't get to live your life and my life too, by forcing me to take actions to avoid you if you're acting irresponsibly. Or, as is the case here, shatter lives of those who act responsibly like my brother-in-law did. Suicide, substance abuse, etc are "choices" people make which are not victimless because others are affected. This applies even more to health issues, where victims can literally be life and death. I don't care what your political views are. I don't care what you think of the efficacy or danger of the vaccine, the severity of COVID, or the response of government or private individuals to same. You have the right to choose your belief system. However, when those beliefs impinge on others, "freedom" stops being unlimited.
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