“How many opportunities of being happy do you miss by giving all of your attention to what brings you angst?” – (Valencia, Twitter)
I got a little triggered yesterday. I went on to my Nextdoor app (which is social media for your local neighborhoods, often used to share local news or to sell items or to report lost pets, etc.) and the thread that was bursting at the seams, considering our local neighborhood news, was the angst over not being able to get a vaccine yet. In Florida, anyone over the age of 65, is now eligible to get a vaccine to prevent the coronavirus, if it is available. And the system for getting the vaccine is flawed. The phone lines are jammed. The technology for setting the appointments blew up, and people were having hissy fits the likes you’ve never seen. I am sure that there were a lot of people, while writing hysterical commentary on the Nextdoor app, were having their blood pressures go through the roof. And let’s remember, the vaccine just got approved for public use, on December 14th.
It’s okay to be upset. The system for getting the vaccine certainly has to be improved, and it will be. Just like how obtaining masks, or getting coronavirus tests, or even, acquiring toilet paper, in the beginning of this pandemic was next to mission impossible, I now own a pile of masks in every color, shape and form, I can obtain toilet paper at any level of softness that I want, and I could get a coronavirus test today, from more than one place, and know the results in fifteen minutes. This is America. We are inventive. We are forward thinking. We are capitalists. It is in everyone’s best interest to get the vaccine, especially in the interests of the moneyed powers that be. Therefore, once the kinks are worked out, I have no doubts that everyone who wants the vaccine, will get one, sooner than any of us think.
We are like a football team who is playing against a team that we have never played before. We are having to make new plays in the middle of the game, and then we are having to make adjustments when our plays don’t work. We are having to play with, and against players, who have all different level of skills, and unique personal agendas. There are going to be a lot of mistakes. There are going to be a lot of unfair plays, and a lot of missed calls. Some people have been seriously hurt, and others still are going to get hurt. At the end of the game, the coaches are really going to have to study the tape, to see what went right and what went wrong, in order to play a better, more solid game in the future. Some of these coaches may be shown to be underperforming, and they will be replaced. Still, we are going to win this game against the coronavirus. The momentum is with us in a major way. We have a vaccine. We have more than one vaccine . . . . . in less than a year!!!!
During the long year of 2020, we often claimed that the good that came out of our experience, is that we were learning the value of patience. We we learning not to take the people, things, and experiences that we were blessed with for granted, by acting entitled. We claimed to have learned how strong and able, we really are, in tough circumstances. How quickly we forget our “lessons” sometimes! We will prevail if we keep calm and carry on using safe, social distancing practices just a little while longer. Let’s be team players and see this game through to victory.