Millions of Americans rolling the pandemic dice at Thanksgiving
Airlines were busy, busy. I was stupefied! They are in the middle of a huge surge that has swept the whole country
Four years ago, I wondered out loud, incredulously, how a people could have elected Donald Trump as their president. The four long, gruelling years under his guidance and rule only underscored my amazement, as day after day, new waves of chaos and alleged criminality spewed from the confines of the hallowed halls of the White House.
But, with sincere hope for our American allies, I prayed Trump would be unseated this time around — and thankfully — prayers answered.
Now president-elect Joe Biden has inherited a hornet’s nest of disasters and crises to unravel and defeat, not the least of which is this horrible pandemic. He will need, as we in Canada do, the co-operation of the whole country to get a handle on this virus, still touted by many Trumpites, as a “hoax.”
To my great disappointment, despite good science and advice, millions of Americans “headed home” for the Thanksgiving holiday. Airlines were busy, busy. I was stupefied! They are in the middle of a huge surge that has swept the whole country. The highest everything. Borders are still closed. Unemployment assistance is soon ready to expire. Lineups for food are often two miles long. Multiple members from the same family are dying after “celebrating” together.
Medical personnel are often overwhelmed not only by workload, but by the heartbreaking loss of life they see every single day — lives they have tried to save and could not. Strangers whose hands they held so they did not die alone. Testimonials from COVID-19 survivors begging others to listen and temporarily make the changes necessary to beat this scourge bring one close to tears. Why isn’t everyone listening?
Please. It is time to revisit the concept of sacrifice. I fear it has been replaced with a sense of entitlement that could cost millions more lives — cherished lives of loved ones. Who knows what the aftermath emotionally and mentally will be for anyone who unknowingly passes the virus to kin? Is a turkey dinner and pumpkin pie going to assuage that persistent thought that this death could have been avoided simply by waiting until next year to gather en masse? And what will Christmas bring this year?
I am not proposing monklike sacrifice nor the loud abrasive moaning that is misrepresented as sacrifice. I am talking about the quiet sacrifice that indicates understanding that we are all connected, family or stranger by a common thread — we are our “brother’s keeper” in the truest sense. Short-term sacrifice could be the saving grace that keeps our family circles intact. That sounds like something beautifully worthwhile to me.
Virtual hugs and kisses do not, in any way, replace in-person contact — that is a given. But nothing replaces life.