Call for Concern

I got word that my time at home is coming to an end. The company is ramping up to reopen with delivery services, and I will be in the first wave of employees who are going back to work. Inevitably, feelings of regret for lost time follow.   

But did I really squander it away? Perhaps it was best spent investing in my mental health. Sure, there’s a list of things I wanted to do if I had enough time, but I chose to do other things, and now it is too late to do anything different. It is what it is. I am trying not to beat myself up about it. 

In preparation for my return to work, and the commuting that I haven’t done in what feels like months (it has only been 1 month), I took my car to my mechanic for an oil change. I have been putting it off because it is hard to go out in public and not feel some kind of way about people not wearing masks when they are out and about. 

I don’t know if it’s because they think they are immune, or not infected, or because they just don’t care about others. But it is unreal. People are still dying in this area and the surrounding counties.  Every day, the list of infected grows, not lessens. It is just responsible to wear a mask until the pandemic is truly over. So I wear mine in public, every time I leave my house. I don’t care if I get crazy looks.  

Maybe they think they don’t need to. Since no one is making them do it, they’re not going to do it. It’s not badass to take that risk. It’s foolish. I am comforted that at least our work is taking this pretty seriously and they aren’t calling everyone back at once. I know they are making careful decisions about social distancing standards and keeping everyone safe. Heck, they were doing it before we closed the store. So I know that’s not where I have to worry.

There are people protesting in the DFW area because they want the state to reopen. They want to end the closures and have everything return to the way it was. Do they believe that this is some kind of hoax? Are they so selfish that they’d prefer it if everyone were at risk just so they can get their hair done? Just so they can go sit in a restaurant? Just so they can get back to however their life was? Don’t they think about anyone other than themselves?

Sure doesn’t seem like it. That is what I worry about. I am not at risk of catching this thing out in the wild. I am more at risk of catching this from some random carrying this virus and thinks they don’t have it.

Willful ignorance is going to kill us all.