Whenever we decide that the Covid virus is being contained or controlled, whenever we start looking forward to the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel, it decides to mutate into some other form. It’s like a joker, or a magician, playing tricks on us. Except this is no joke, it’s a killer that doesn’t respect sex or race or age; it’s an equal opportunity avenger. It kills in all its different forms, and all the medical experts are as befuddled as the rest of us civilians, as to its next move! I remember a few months ago, after being fully vaccinated, how cocky and relieved I was, feeling invincible against this chameleon, this Covid. I heaped scorn on the intransigent, who refused to follow the herd, and remained unvaccinated. Now we have to get a booster shot to be better protected, so I can sympathize with their reluctance. I don’t agree with them, but I understand.
The last 2 years have been a nightmare for most of us — with the masks, the quarantine, the loss of lifestyles we all took for granted. It has been especially hard on our children, who are social animals by nature. Cut off from school and friends, and in some cases, the outdoors, where they thrive and grow! There has been a spike in depression and angst and disorientation and rebellion amongst the younger generation, understandably so. A nightmare for businesses, society as whole, and now, the repercussions are becoming more obvious.
Inflation has skyrocketed to record highs in every country in the world! This time we can’t blame it on government or politicians; for once it’s not their fault. Businesses that had to shut down or slow down during the first year of the plague, are finding it hard to play catch-up. Manufacturing, transportation, the labor market, are all shorthanded, and it will take a while for them, for us, to get back to where we were, pre-Covid! It is scary and confusing, this situation we find ourselves in, and right now it seems like an unending punishment for our past indifference, or maybe it’s just nature’s way of reminding us that we are not invincible.
I tend to preach and lecture about vaccines, and the unwashed masses, but now is not the time for that. Now is the time for reflection, on how we will move forward in this uncertain and unforgiving world, working together to find a way to live with this fickle enemy. I hope that 2022 brings the relief and assurance that 2021 promised, but did not deliver.
“And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?”
—The Second Coming, by W. B. Yeats.
Glenn