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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
When we all realized we had to wear masks, I developed an elaborate system of ordering my masks in a row and always taking from the right side, so that I could be sure that any mask I had been using had had at least five days to "dry" out and for any virus on it to shed. Now I'm down to a coat rack, masks thrown about, no order whatsoever. This is how I feel these days--completely scattered and without any sense of forward direction. It's true, we are coming out of winter, the vaccines are here, but the messiness of the vaccines is so depressing. My very progressive county, in an effort to be equitable, is holding back tons of vaccine until poor people and people of color can get them. Meanwhile tons of old people and teachers can't get them through the county and have to look elsewhere. At the same time, the governor (a republican) is sending a ton of vaccines to the pharmacies because they are less stringent about who they vaccinate. I find myself in the off position of actually supporting a Republican in this case. I have lost patience with people who are skeptical about the vaccines. If you don't want them, then just get out of the way and let other people have them. I feel like that is totally classist and racist of me, but I have friends over 65 who are going crazy trying to get vaccines. In this case, there really is scarcity. The rollout has been such a huge mess it's depressing. And meanwhile, my mother, like SO many other elderly people in care homes, is deteriorating emotionally from 12 fricking months of isolation and there's nothing my brothers and I can do about it. Part of me feels guilty for complaining because, hey--she's alive, she has food, she has medical care, at least she didn't die alone in an ICU, suffocating in her own lungs But then I think, oh Fuck that. I'm just angry and sad that this whole pandemic happened, that Chinese bureaucrats fucked this up, and Trump fucked it up, and the world fucked it up and it's still here and how many people have suffered and died. I've been trying to keep it together for my family and stay cheerful, but I don't know. I think I ran out of happy steam or happy juice or whatever it was motivating me to be up. I just want me and everyone else to be vaccinated and all the bickering everywhere to stop.
February 27, 2021
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
My boss's boyfriend, vaccinated, got COVID. She's been staying with him. She even had to take him to the ER about 4 nights ago. She's vaccinated, too, and she hasn't come to work, of course. I had been exposed to her before he had tested positive, but at that time, she and I both tested negative. Now she is sick and waiting the results of her test. I am assuming she has COVID, but she was dismissing it as a common cold and just being run down from taking care of her boyfriend. We seem to have a culture at my workplace where people downplay things when they don't feel well because we are all such dedicated worker bees. This is not okay. Being a martyr is not a good thing for leaders to role model. A wise leader should say, "I've been exposed to COVID, I feel like crap, I probably have COVID, and I need to rest and recover." Work should take a back seat to our health. Leadership should trust their colleagues enough for them to take care of business in their brief absence. If leadership can't do that, they should question how they are running their team. My boss was pale and weak during yesterday's meeting (which she attended virtually). It was obvious she wasn't well and should have been in bed. I couldn't believe she was dismissing it as a common cold. Not only am I worried about her, I am bothered by the messaging that it's okay to be that sick and still working. It wasn't even that important of a meeting. Also, in general if you are sick after spending a week with someone with the Delta COVID virus, you probably do not have a common cold. You probably have COVID!! If any bosses are reading this, remember that your employees want you to set a good example. Work is important, but it's not that important. That's why you have a team. That's why people have sick days. Show your employees what taking responsibility for your health and wellness looks like. Show your employees that you trust their competence to run a meeting in your absence and share the notes with you when it's over. We care about your health, too. We want you back when you are strong and rearing to go!!
August 19, 2021