By: MaryKhon
Hello Queeridos!
How was your summer? Did you have one of those “Summer loving had me a blast/Summer loving happened so fast type of summers?” Did you meet a boy? Did you meet a girl? Did you meet both? Did you meet someone who doesn’t identify as a boy or a girl but rather as “them?” Or better yet, did you meet someone who you felt in love with or at least you thought you felt in love with and during the summer it was all about loving each other until exhaustion took over? If you did, tell me all about it because I didn’t have such luck.
My summer, however, wasn’t bad. I had the opportunity to travel and discovered that as a human race, we are doomed! Why? Because 90% of the people I encountered during my three different trips were never wearing a mask, or face covering, or taking any precautions because of COVID-19. Apparently, being vaccinated is enough to throw all precautions out and not really be concerned about one’s or anyone’s safety at all. And if people were part of the anti-covid movement, I mean, if they refuse to cover their mouth before, now that rules are less strict, these people are not going to stop and think about being “safe” for anyone’s sake.
Do I sound upset? I probably sound upset and I have to say that if I sound upset, I have all the rights to be upset. Why you ask? Because as I write this diatribe, California as a state already has 38 counties, out of the 58, in the highest levels of infections once again. And all because business, events, and everything else that requires interaction among us is acting in a pre-pandemic mode, and of course, the majority of people interacting in these events are also behaving as if three shots to protect us from the virus is all that we need and now we are invincible and even supper human.
In fact, by the time this article comes out in print, I have a feeling renew healthy measures will be introduced in order to help us make it through the next months, and hopefully years and longer. I hope I’m wrong; I really do. But based on my previous predictions… well, you get what I mean.
As of the writing of this rant, two new variations of the OMICRON virus have been detected. And both are far more challenging/dangerous than OMICRON, even re-infecting those who have been previously infected by OMICRON. This news is alarming because hospitals are, once again, getting saturated, and people, although dying at a slower rate, are getting sicker and sicker.
I don’t have to tell you how alarming and worrisome this matter is, especially if you are one of those people who were affected during the height of the pandemic, experiencing trauma by getting sick, or by the loss of an acquaintance, or a friend, or a relative, or both. I did. I lost my best friend, who was my age, and I lost five different relatives (two aunts and three uncles.) So, while I’m still dealing with the loss, pushing myself to stay afloat, mentally, physically, and emotionally, I’m starting to worry once again because the number of infections continues to rise. And all because we are not being careful enough. I mean, during the two different gay parades I attended, 90% of those celebrating our queerness were not wearing a mask. And even wearing a mask does not guarantee you won’t catch the virus, but at least it gives you and those around a little more confidence than not wearing a mask at all.
But, Mary, you are being paranoid. Am I? The number in the science don’t lie. As I mentioned earlier, 38 counties are now in the red again, and most of them are in Northern California, while Central and Southern California have now reached an “alert” status. So, probably, by the time this article is published, many of those Southern California counties will be in the red along with the Northern counties.
I hope I’m wrong. I hope everything I’m saying is just my paranoia, my projected trauma because of what I had to endure during the height of the pandemic. And while I confess that I don’t ever like to be wrong, this is one of those times when I want to be proven wrong. I want to be wrong one hundred percent. If that is the case, I will be the first to accept and then write a retraction because I’m obviously not able to control my traumatic life.
But if I’m not wrong, queeridos, if I’m hitting the nail right where I’m supposed to, then we will be in big trouble, and as much as I hate wearing a face mask, and being isolated from the world, I will do it for the betterment of all of us. Let us hope that by the time this article is published we don’t hear the phrase, “here we go again.” But if we do, I hope we all are able to learn from our carelessness and improve our attitudes. Or we will be doomed!