Shocked

It’s quite shocking how some people, many people, are uninformed about the pandemic (I hear 30% of UK residents don’t know what a virus is – surely that’s not a correct stat?). It’s also terrifying how detached and averse people are to the truth of the dying. I hardly see any mentions of death in hospitals, any reports from the frontline, conversations focus on us complaining about having to stay at home. When did we become so selfish and so individualistic? As a person who grew up on gothic and sci-fi apocalyptic stories, I find the fact that we need to stay home rather comfortable comparing to how this could have gone. And how much harder the next one is going to be. We knew the virus within two weeks. We have the first seriously considered vaccine in less than a year.

And yet… not willing to stop and wait to save lives. Not willing to accept that some things take time. Not willing to accept that our way of life is not sustainable. That we need to learn before we speak. Put others lives ahead of our comfort. Smarten up. Wise up. Sit and wait patiently. But…let’s face it… it’s also down to the story we are told and the story we tell ourselves. If our public dialogue was focussed on grief and death, if we faced the reality of this, our stories would be different, not easy but more connected to our humanity.

Because it all boils down to a simple choice: you at home – if you can (not for a lockdown! pandemic-time-wise that’s rubbish!) for a year, maybe even two or blood on your hands. But who wants to hear that? Time to smarten up and take this seriously. (I fully agree that some people live in abusive homes, but most of us are just fine and really need to look around and redefine their view of reality).

/ my reaction to yesterday’s marches