Bah Humbug! This is going to be the worst Christmas ever. This COVID virus has devastated so many of my family and friends. Although I don’t know anyone who has actually got the virus, but the fighting has ruined so many relationships. The people who believe the doctors and health officials want to do what they believe is right; protecting their older family members from getting sick and possibly dying if it would have been preventable. And then there are the ones who believe the virus affects very few people and most survive, and they don’t want to wear a mask thinking it doesn’t help anyway. The arguing goes back and forth and then it begins to get personal—one side says the other side has their head in the sand and is letting the government control their lives, the other says if they cared about their older grandparents, they would wear a mask and do what the experts are saying.
I am not going to say which side I am on, because I don’t want to alienate the few friends and family members I have left. This Christmas we can’t get together with family anyway, but I don’t want this to carry on beyond the virus where my family and friends are no longer speaking to each other. Do you have any advice that might help people to put a different spin on this whole virus thing, and possibly make Christmas a little less stressful? Thanks, Claudia.
Hi Claudia:
Excellent topic and so important at this time of year. No doubt we are getting tired of this virus but there is light at the end of tunnel with the first vaccine set to be released soon in the US.
Throughout history there have always been polarizing issues and the COVID virus is no different. The top social problems I think are First Nations rights, wealth inequality, the rise of racism and the far right, immigration issues, wearing of the Niqab, gay marriage and abortion, just to name a few. Both sides have their beliefs and that is their right, but what is not right is to push your beliefs on another person.
We all have a right to our own perspective. However, just because you believe it, doesn’t give you the right to force your will on other people, as this is an attempt to control and filter another person’s view through our lenses. This will only result in hate and anger between people. Governments are made up of our elected officials, and we have chosen to give them the responsibility for making decisions for us and sometimes we don’t agree with their decisions, but we chose them. Much like living in a condominium complex, we vote a board of directors in and they make the decisions for our complex, therefore we are expected to follow the rules imposed by them, even if we don’t agree with them. For example, from my own personal experience my sister and I have very different views on most issues, as we are different people, but once we start removing the layers of societal differences, we are, most importantly, family and always will be no matter what. We have lost a brother and a sister in the last few years, so we realize there is a deeper connection that will always remain in spite of the masks, the immigration laws, or whatever the current social issue is.
My suggestion is to share this column with family and friends, I’m not saying it will make a difference, but it’s worth a try. So Claudia, try to make the best of this Covid Christmas.
Merry Christmas to all my readers.