We're about a year and a half into this pandemic, and I'm genuinely surprised about what I've learned about myself in that time: I'm not as compassionate a person as I thought I was. There is a subreddit in which people post articles and photos of folks who were publicly anti-mask or anti-vaccination or both, and who subsequently ended up infected, hospitalized, or dead. I have to say I'm surprised at the internal glee I feel upon reading these posts. I'm not proud of myself about this. Maybe I should try to tamp it down. But reading about people who were virulently wrong about a public health matter, and then suffered as a result of their opinions... The worst one was a fellow who did not get vaccinated, got infected, was hospitalized and died, leaving his widow with seven children. Someone commented, "It looks like he didn't believe in protection for any part of his body". I laughed. I'm a horrible person.
September 1, 2021
"... Global and local developments are alarming me. I see that countries in Africa and in Asia, India for example, are starting to really struggle with their covid cases and their inadequate healthcare systems. I read how an eight-month pregnant woman with symptoms was hauled for 13 hours in an ambulance in Delhi as she was rejected by 9 hospitals (!) and ended up dying in a car crash. This is beyond tragic. And, since I am pregnant myself, this story hit me hard. ... everyone seems to admit that major structural changes need to be made in order to cope with this virus. ... However, [here in] Greece ... I see people hoping, writing, and believing that 'things are back to normal', but this is just an illusion. How can it be normal, when the virus is still spreading across the globe? ... We are all in the same bag, as they say here. ..."
June 29, 2020