Opening
Up
“People
are like mussels. You can put them in a vat of boiling water, and some of them
will pop open immediately. Some of them will have to float around in the water
for a bit, then they’ll slowly release. Others never open up at all, no matter
what sort of hot water they’re in.”
Rhian
J. Martin (A Different Familiar)
There’s
much discussion and debate about “opening up” these days. Here in Alabama,
where the infection rate from Covid-19 is still on the rise, our Governor decided
to throw caution to the wind and fling open the doors. She is right that we can’t
keep the economy shut down forever, but I don’t know that everyone will jump
into that pot of hot water with her right now. NPR did a show yesterday about
the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, which, by the way, was the worst one in history,
worse even than the black plague. It hit during World War I and did not even originate
in Spain. Go figure. Did you know that 50-million people died during that
pandemic? I didn’t. The reason we didn’t know is because a lid was put on the
pot. Leaders did not tell the general population how devastating that pandemic
was simply because they didn’t want negative press during a war. So, the truth
about how many people were sick and dying was suppressed. Sounds familiar,
doesn’t it.
Opening
up should be something we welcome rather than something causing dread, and if
we had more information about this disease, that might be possible. We don’t
because this is a “novel” virus—we haven’t seen it before now. A year from now,
far more will be known about the virus and its short and long-term effects.
There was, for instance, an early-onset, aggressive Parkinson’s disease
associated with the Spanish flu—my former husband’s grandfather died in his 50’s
from it. And, of course, we know that shingles comes from the chicken pox
virus, which stays in the body forever. In my worldview, until we know more
about this coronavirus, we ought to be cautious.
The word we like to use
these days is “nuanced.” There should be a nuanced reopening—and there will be
regardless of governmental ground-rules. Some of us will not open up at all and
shouldn’t if we want to stay alive. Some of us will use protection, wear our
masks and gloves, and go out only when necessary, and others have already flung
off their masks and jumped head-first into the boiling water. I hope they
manage to live long and healthy lives.
Hot water metaphors
aside, this is a pandemic. In just three months, we’ve lost more than a million
people world-wide, almost 100,000 right here in the US. These are not simply numbers;
they are not just cold statistics. These are human beings who would be here
right now, living their lives, if not for Covid-19. Nationally, we have rightly celebrated
our health care and other front-line workers, but we have not grieved the dead;
we haven’t mourned them. Just since January, we’ve lost more people to this disease
than we lost during World War II, more than the Vietnam and Korean wars
combined. It’s time to get real about this. Let’s take time to mourn our dead,
recognizing that their families need that. And, let’s be cautious about jumping
into the boiling water too soon. As for me, I’m one of those slow-release mussels. I
will wear my mask and gloves until I feel safe enough to take them off. I hope
you will, too.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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