No matter what news source you utilize, stories about health care workers contracting and dying of the coronavirus are becoming more and more prevalent. Just today I read two in the online New York Times. It's true, no one wants to read these stories, they are heartbreaking, frightening and they feel apocalyptic. But we must read them. We owe it to those workers to respect the work they did for others. We who are still relatively unscathed in this catastrophic situation need to acknowledge our fortune which often come laden with guilt and emotional indebtedness. And monumental gratitude.
Every day we wake up and take inventory: is that a sore throat? Do I feel weak and feverish or just need another cup of coffee? Why do I have this nagging cough in the morning, what is that about? The list can go on and on but we quickly realize that we are alright. We are still healthy. Others are not.
I have had a slight sore throat for a week. Today my ears are clogged and there is pressure in my sinuses. Is this a precursor to something more serious? Probably not. Probably just paranoia which seems rampant right now. But it makes me so conscious of how vulnerable and frightened we are right now. Just running into the grocery store five minutes before it close because no one else is there feels like a breach of a life choice.
Read those stories of workers who tried to carry on with their jobs and got sick and died. We cannot ignore the toll this is taking on regular working people. Those of us who have the money to stay home (and we would be working at Safeway otherwise) should thank our dwindling bank accounts every day. As long as we are healthy, we are supremely lucky.
Take care.
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