- Joined
- Dec 17, 2019
It's rather scary to me how many people are absolutely fine with giving up everything that gives them joy in life and canceling any celebrations or holidays, all to feel self-righteous about how much of a sacrifice they're making all in the name of "stopping the spread" or "saving grandma" or whatever. A life without happiness isn't a life at all.
My parents and I recently went out for my mom's birthday, going to a restaurant and then to the movies. We followed whatever procedures were involved with masks, even if they were really pointless overall (why wear a mask when there's literally nobody else in the lobby? why wear one for the twenty-foot span between the door and our table?). Not once did I fear for my safety, and if my parents were nervous, they certainly didn't show it. We had a great time, and it was good to actually be able to celebrate a birthday by going out again, though I joked that we shouldn't tell my brother because of his own paranoia (probably fueled by his wife, but eh).
Well, earlier this evening, I happened to be around when my brother called, and one of them brought up what we did. Despite reassuring him that we were socially distanced and wearing our masks like we were supposed to, I could hear the exasperated "don't you know better" tone in my brother's voice when he replied. Made me want to smack him upside the head for being retarded about the coof. We can take responsibility for our own actions, we don't need a sanctimonious scold preaching at us about how we're actually fucking idiots for not being scared to death of a virus that barely affects anyone and kills even less.
Look, part of me understands people who think that if everyone just makes the sacrifice now, we'll all go back to normal faster. These are the ones who claim "true lockdowns have never been tried" and probably wish that Melbourne's total shutdown could be spread everywhere. But we're long past that point now, the Wu Flu has spread so much that it's practically inevitable that you'll get it at some point, and entirely possible you already have. And the problem with giving up your rights is that it's really fucking hard to get those back. If you don't stand up for your right to live your life without it being micromanaged by some pencil-necked tinpot dictator, you could very well find that freedom taken away from you. That's without getting into all of the other damage these policies are causing, like medical procedures being delayed, businesses shutting down, children's lives thrown into chaos as schools reopen and close on a whim, and so on.
The Wu Flu is nothing to be terrified of. It's certainly nothing to shut your entire life down over. And if you still feel like locking up inside, don't bemoan others who choose to go out and live again.
