True confession: I smoked cigarettes from the age of 15 until I was well into my 60s. Like many long-term smokers, I quit dozens of times…only to start up again a few days or a couple of weeks or even three months later. There was always some excuse. I’m too nervous. I eat too much. I’m sad because my dog died. Whatever.
Six years ago, I quit for good.
I did it by abstaining from cigarettes on Day 1, then telling myself I couldn’t smoke on Day 2 without losing what I had gained the day before. I repeated that mantra on Day 3, 4, 5, 25, 50 and so on until months had passed and I just didn’t want another cigarette. Eventually, I got to one year, then two and now six. I still don’t want another cigarette and I hope I never will. The point is, you have to possess the will to quit, then convince yourself every day that it’s the right thing to do.
And that brings me to COVID-19.
On March 19 – nearly nine months ago – I made my last visit inside a supermarket. I went late at night to avoid a crowd, then came home, wiped down the food, put it away and washed my hands. That’s what we were supposed to do. The next day or so, we were advised to stay home except for essential activities such as work and medical treatment.
I’ve been staying home ever since.
I’m doing it under the same philosophy I applied to quit smoking. Following the COVID guidelines is the right thing to do, but if I were to abandon them on Day 2 or Day 30 or Day 270 it would erase all of the gains I had made previously, and then what would be the point? It would all have been a colossal waste of time, effort and sacrifice, and nothing would have been accomplished.
For the record, I am not in total isolation. I buy groceries online and drive to the pickup location to get them. I just don’t open my window or get out of the car. I use the drive-up window at the pharmacy and the big blue mailbox that sits outside the Post Office. I just don’t go inside. I keep important doctor appointments but postpone the ones that can wait…or meet with the doctor via tele-health. I cut my own hair with clippers rather than go to a hair salon, but I did go to the dentist when my teeth started wearing socks.
I FaceTime with my children and my closest friend. I used to walk my dog every day until she died, but even then I wore a bandana around my neck in case I encountered another person. I wear latex gloves and a mask to pump gas. I buy everyday products from Amazon. I have missed birthday parties at my daughter’s house and even the birth of another grandson. I have skipped funerals for friends and every other social gathering that we have been told to avoid. I intend to keep doing that until it’s safe to do otherwise…if that day ever arrives.
Meanwhile:
* I keep reading stories about people getting on airplanes and flying across the country for family gatherings or sporting events or Thanksgiving dinner with the children. And Christmas is just around the corner.
* West Virginia’s men’s basketball team spent three days in South Dakota – a raging COVID hot spot – for a meaningless tournament after six of the original eight teams had the good sense to opt out. I see clusters of fans at football games with their masks worn under their chins…or no masks at all.
* I hear about school teachers in West Virginia staging a homecoming dance they were forbidden to have by lying about their intention and calling it a religious ceremony of some kind.
Now we’re being told that a vaccine may soon be available. That will be great news, I guess, but only if my doctor says it’s safe to take and if I live long enough for the waiting list to get down to me. However, even after it’s administered, it will be weeks or maybe months before enough people have built up enough immunity to make it safe to resume our normal lives.
And what happens if half the country rejects the vaccine and continues to go around without masks and without social distancing and refusing to follow any kind of safety guidelines? What does that mean for the rest of us? Will they continue to spread the virus? Will people continue to die? Will we be safe from these COVID deniers or not? I mean, none of the vaccines announced to date is 100 percent effective, so what if I’m in the other 10 percent?
I’ve said it before…if you’re not afraid of this virus you ought to be. But if you’re one of the people who’s out there shopping and dining and partying and clustering without following the guidelines, you’re the reason that COVID-19 cases are on the rise, and the reason people you come in contact with are getting sick and dying, and the reason people like me spend our days staring at the walls inside our houses.
Here’s the truth: Instead of shouting at Walmart greeters who tell you to wear a mask or driving around proclaiming your “freedom” to live your life as you please or otherwise defying all of the rules, you ought to be thanking people like me for putting our lives on hold while doing everything possible to help keep you and your family alive.
The coronavirus officially known as SARS-CoV-2 may actually go away some day, but if it does, it will do so in spite of the millions of people who still won’t take it seriously and who delight in mocking the people like me who do. It will happen because science will win out over politics and denial, and knowledge will win out over arrogance and stupidity. And it will go away because enough people finally realize it’s time to do the right thing.
One can only hope.
