Waiting, And Waiting Some More
Keep your eye upon me. I am with you, taking care of you in the best possible way. When you are suffering, my care may seem imperfect and inadequate. You seek relief, and I make you wait. Just remember: There are many different ways to wait, and some are much better than others. Beneficial waiting involves looking to Me continually–trusting and loving me.
Sarah Young, “Dear Jesus.”
Two Vaccines have been approved! The EU has approved the Pfizer vaccine. It was released the first week in December. The vaccine is now being reviewed by the FDA and it’s expected that it will be released sometime in mid-December (it was eventually released on December 11).
The Moderna vaccine was released by the FDA on December 18. It is better suited to distribution in outlying areas because it doesn’t require the level of refrigeration that the Pfizer one does. Medical authorities are concerned about the fact that many have indicated that they don’t want to get the vaccine … and many that are suspicious of it come from the population that are hardest-hit (such as people of color that are at a high risk of either getting very sick or dying).
The rate of infection is now so high, that the Governor has mandated a complete lockdown. This is also the case in California. There is concern regarding intensive care capacity as well as already overburdened medical staff. I keep hearing that we just need to “hang in there” for 3-4 months …. and that the problem still continues to be people making poor safety decisions, blocking the guidelines and avoiding responsibility.
What Bears Some Repeating
I believe that imaging (optics) reflecting poor choices by our leaders and promoted by the media greatly contributes to public attitudes. For example, mask wearing was made into an identity issue by both the political right and the left. Trump “pushed back” just because he is Trump, and the left politically identified with mask wearing. Optics are everything.
Chris Christie gets COVID and is in intensive care for 7 days. He is very sick for a period of time, and after he recovers, is very outspoken about his regret for not wearing a mask, and for not taking this virus seriously. Now to me, that is courage.
Differing Opinions
There are different “schools of thought” regarding how the COVID spread should currently be managed. Some say, “close everything down for 3-4 weeks, mandate mask-wearing, to bring the caseload down.” Other say, “open businesses back up and focus on the most vulnerable populations, such as the elderly, those in nursing homes, etc, etc.” But to me, the bottom line is that too many people simply do not want to be told what to do, no matter who or what they decide to believe. They are going to do what they want, period. So here we are. Cases skyrocketing everywhere.
Live and Learn
There is a very reactive approach in play between federal public health officials and state public health officials. Six months ago it was “how to say safe,” then it was “contact tracing and testing,” now it’s the vaccine. Hopefully we will learn from this pandemic and be better prepared, should it happen again. Putting heads together, coming up with what worked and what didn’t based on available data, and learning from each other. That’s the way it should work and unfortunately, it’s not the way it has worked.
Misinformation, disinformation, mal-information. Information disorganization … information disorder and so on ….
I believe that the misinformation/disinformation issue is a very large problem, contributing greatly to how the pandemic has affected us in this country. I was able to find some information on this topic.
Just what is “Fake News?” Much of it is real, it’s just used out of context. Then it becomes weaponized. And it isn’t useful.
Everyone is concerned about fabricated rumors, when the bigger problem is old imagery recirculating, genuine imagery with the wrong context, or people using logos of the trusted brands along with misleading content.
Mis- and Disinformation are both false. However, the difference is in the intent.
Driving disinformation is the intent to cause harm. But the bigger problem is actually misinformation. The people sharing it don’t realize it’s false and have no intention of causing harm. Mal-information is “revenge-porn” or the deliberate leaking of certain types of emails or documents in order to cause harm. This has been going on for quite a while and has gotten worse over the last 3 years. Hopefully this problem will be dealt with in the coming years.
What needs to be done? Reviewing millions of social media posts is a whackamole approach. When false narratives come up, there should be pushback right away. Some can even be anticipated (such as election results discussed in multiple messages) as they can eventually result in damaging narratives that are hard to deal with. And then … there’s the problem with people taking certain bits of information, rewriting it to suit their agenda or ideology, and “feeding it back out there.” Some of this information narrative was going on early in the pandemic. There is now concern that this problem will affect whether or not people will get the vaccine, once it’s available to them.
Liberty and Freedom is an idea that often appears, regardless of whether the safety of the vaccine is understood. “We should have the power to control our bodies.” This is an extension of the narrative of pushing back on the COVID guidelines. Morality and religiosity (what is in the vaccine) can frame any discussion. To help counter this, explainer content and examples need to be created to reduce the “blank spaces” that can be filled with misinformation. “Tell me what MRNA Is.” “Tell me why it is safe.”
There is also “data oversupply” or “infodemic.” Confusion is weaponized when it’s not clear. Unless there is clarity, there is a problem. People search for information that supports their world view and that quality of information can itself be a problem. This can also be countered by explainer content, with a clear distribution plan in place. Not some radio announcer asking listeners “are you going to take the vaccine?” and allowing them to say NO with all of the reasons for their decision. And then there are the comments on Facebook. Yeesh.
A failure to listen to questions and concerns and to respond to them clearly and in a transparent way (such as discussing possible side effects, instead of constantly saying it’s 95% effective) should be done.
There is a problem with authoritative resources. There needs to be a consistent information source.
How do we teach people the tactics that people are using to manipulate you so they will understand the tactics or techniques? Platforms should teach people how to use sites, share information, etc.
(Source: Lawfare Podcast, December 10, 2020)
COVID Stories that Resonate
There is a local restaurant that decided to stay open for indoor dining, in spite of the Governor’s order for it to close. Community members rallied around them, providing financial support and continuing to dine (in spite of the fact that the safety guidelines weren’t being followed). They ended up placing a tent out in the parking lot for outside dining. The argument is “why us, and why not Walmart, grocery stores, Costco, etc).” Many disagreed with this, with good reason …. countered by others that did … my view is that if people would follow the stay safe/well guidelines (wearing masks, social distancing, avoiding large gatherings, washing hands …)…. ALL businesses could stay open because the number of cases would decrease (assuming that the businesses too would follow the safety guidelines). But alas, it has to be political, doesn’t it?
“This is not about which sector is riskier than another sector, it’s about that fact that any mixing among households presents a risk of disease transmission.” state health officials said.
The Fresno Bee on December 11, 2020
Used to be, we hardly knew anyone that had it. Starting in November and during this month, several families that we personally know have contracted COVID. They have recovered in various degrees, and there have also been some deaths. They are not all elderly with preexisting conditions. Tragedy and heartbreak for several reasons has been another great consequence of acquiring COVID. Being closer to these situations has sure taken me out of my “bubble.”
I also wondered how it would be for these family members, grieving a great loss, and hearing every day about “COVID COVID COVID.” Sort of like reliving the loss every day, I would think.
Mid-December
A lot of information is being disseminated regarding the vaccine (Good)!! Side effects are comparable for both vaccines. So far there are the symptoms that we had when we took the flu and shingles shot. Mild to moderate for most. The side effects are symptoms that your immune system is responding to the vaccine, which is good. Nothing to indicate they aren’t safe, but science and doctors will be watching for possible additional side effects as they roll out.
Lots of high profile politicians are getting vaccinated. Hopefully those optics will help. They are focusing on front-line health workers and nursing home residents.
A Facebook post from a healthcare provider in California that I know: “Gavin Newsom is saying that not enough people are taking this seriously. A more strict lockdown is needed. Only life- saving work should be operating. I work in healthcare (not life saving) but it’s healthcare and I cannot begin to to tell you how many ignorant patients I’ve seen who don’t believe in this virus. I would rather have to deal with an economic downfall than a loved ones death. You can always rebuild an economy but you cannot bring back a lost life.”
COVID in South Dakota – God Be With Us
COVID becomes personal in a South Dakota town as neighbors die and the town debates a mask mandate.
I began to hear and read that there were already some vaccine distribution problems. I figured that would happen … after all …. each state has its own system and some are better equipped than others. I also heard President-elect Biden criticize the slowness of the vaccine rollout. That disappointed me. Any kind of divisive comment by any politician is just not helpful. Let’s move forward and set a different standard. How about if the federal and state governments move in lockstep to roll out the vaccines and resolve any issues that come up?
Around mid-December, I heard that there was a more virulent strain of COVID 19 in the UK. The vaccine would still be effective … but this strain was more contagious (oh my how can it get MORE contagious?) Then, towards the end of December, I learned that a case had been discovered in Colorado, and then at the very end of December, a few were in California. Hopefully this won’t add to an already bad surge of cases.
We should know by the middle of January how the Christmas and New Year holidays affected the COVID spread. It really spiked after Thanksgiving. I’m hoping that people learned from the Thanksgiving holiday spread and tempered their activities over the rest of the holidays.
Schooling Update
The first lesson that the pandemic has revealed is the limits of one-size-fits-all schooling. Some students have actually liked not being in school — the lack of social pressure and anxiety has made them more able to focus on learning. Some were miserably lonely at home and couldn’t wait for school to reopen. More reticent students have really liked being able to type into the chat instead of talking, and some students have thrived in the small groups afforded by virtual breakout rooms. When we reopen schools, could we do so in a way that creates different kinds of opportunities for all kinds of students — introverts and extroverts, fast processors and reflective thinkers?
There is the question of how to catch students up on what they missed during the pandemic. This is a serious problem — 56 percent of teachers in one survey reported covering half as much material as they would in a normal year, or less. But, at the same time, we don’t want a repeat of No Child Left Behind, where disadvantaged students got endless drills in reading and math while more advantaged students were given a richer curriculum.
Districts could embrace this shift by moving away from top-down edicts and instead inviting teachers, students and community members to codesign the structures that affect them. We need to talk about what we are trying to accomplish — not just about what knowledge we want our young people to possess, but what sorts of skills, capacities and qualities we want them to develop. And then, and only then, about what sorts of teaching, learning and policy structures would support the cultivation of those qualities.
States could help by honing standards to focus on the truly essential, enabling opportunities for local adaptations and greater depth on fewer topics. Given the radical inequalities in learning opportunities this year, maybe states should declare a moratorium on testing this coming spring?
(Source: The New York Times – December 23, 2020)
Working Post-Covid
Many companies catering to the highly skilled work force said the same thing: Post-Covid flexibility is going to make the office even better. Workers are going to have a higher quality of life, more time with their kids, more connection to their communities. They’ll be able to live where they want to live, stop paying exorbitant rent. They might even figure out how to work less, simply by being able to concentrate more. This is the wild, blissful, utopian flexible future.
But this is also a huge shift in the understanding of corporate flexibility — an ethos that was embraced in the 1980s and ’90s. Back then, flexibility was for hirers, not employees. Corporations wanted a work force that could be expanded and reduced quickly, that wasn’t yoked to the company through long-term contracts, faint ideas of loyalty, or union demands. In short, they wanted disposable workers instead of the long-term (or even lifer) employee who had historically weighed down the bottom line. Amen to this. I was in the workforce then. It was all about the employer, not the employee. And they weren’t very “flexible.”
The “flexible” ethos was sold to employees with the language of choice — it’s liberating to be a freelancer or a contractor — even though it was often “freedom” to work more, for less pay, with far less stability. This made shareholders happy but left companies with a burned-out, less productive, and ever more alienated work force.
This was a problem pre-pandemic, and it’s a bigger problem now. Which brings us to the bleak heart of the issue: A vast majority of people who were in “good” jobs — stable, well paid, with benefits — before the pandemic have managed to maintain those good jobs. Doing the job might have become more difficult, but the job itself has largely remained steady.
These employees are the ones whose bosses are going to be seeking these solutions, who are thinking of hiring heads of remote work, who are looking to even further “amenitize” their spaces, to figure out new strategies to make work-life balance real.
For the rich, and for the office worker whose skills are in demand, the Covid-19 recession has been over for months. With that sort of economic stability brings the ability to innovate and think about what “flexible” could mean moving forward — including, hopefully, new ways of thinking about the centrality of work in our lives. When you’re not compelled to be in the office from 9 to 5, flexibility means you actually schedule your day around your life, rather than around your work.
If the future of work is flexibility, our challenge now is to make sure that future doesn’t just worsen the ever-widening divide in American society between those promised a new vision of the good, balanced life, and those for whom “flexibility” means effacing your wants and needs and dreams, once again, to the fickle demands of your employer.
(Source: The New York Times, December 23, 2020).
Travel Future
When I talk to people now about their fantasy travel plans, they rarely mention famous locations. They are more focused on meaningful experiences, and seeing friends and loved ones.
As the industry prepares for its comeback, it presents people with the opportunity to travel differently. Expect some of the trends we’ve seen this year to continue, like road trips and domestic travel. This is what Lynn and I are planning to do next fall.
Experts also expect companies to change how they treat travelers. More flexible booking arrangements, with fewer change and cancellation fees, will be popular. People have become more accustomed to uncertainty. The pandemic has taught us anything can happen; we don’t want to be locked in.
All the people who have been watching others travel from the sidelines and kept saying they would travel next year or the next year or the next year will be eager to travel. People are seeing that there are no guarantees. Just go when you can.
Reflections
As of the end of December, the cases in California have exploded, with the San Joaquin Valley being one of the real hot spots. Some are placing partial blame on undocumented immigrants. That makes me sad …. the “illegals” back and forth arguments have been going on for years. COVID has just put it back out there. There could be truth that there are a large number of COVID patients that are undocumented. Hopefully, there will be policy changes to address the real problems and come up with some sort of compromise.
Another issue is crime … it has skyrocketed in Fresno, where we used to live, and in Seattle, WA. Prior to COVID, the economy was booming and unemployment was dropping, and even the inequality gap was shrinking. Then COVID hit and people began losing jobs, and any gains made were lost, resulting in a lot of anger and stress, and then there was the unrest that followed. People are struggling with a variety of mental disorders and depression.
The return of professional sports in America and abroad has ultimately contributed to the spread of the virus, but there is room for nuance. Sports are an emotionally comforting and entertaining activity. It appears as if the teams and their managers are working hard to make sporting events available, while minimizing the risk.
I talk to myself. I like the quiet. I miss friends. Cyber chatting or zooming is OK.
Why do I listen to podcasts every day? It keeps me grounded and keeps me on track. It’s so easy to get COVID fatigue and go into denial about the real situation as it is currently is. That seems to be in abundance these days.
Full Disclosure
Around the middle of December, Lynn and I began talking about Christmas. Cases were surging, and our Governor was urging people to stay home, not gather with people outside of our home, wear masks, social distance, and wash hands. We have always been pretty serious about taking responsibility for following the stay safe and well guidelines outlined by our Governor. We had decorated our tree, and some gifts were already wrapped and under it.
First, we decided that we would do the right thing and cancel. Then we started talking about what that would mean. The majority of our grandchildren live up here in Lynden. We see our oldest son Brian and his wife Vicki several times a week, and they currently don’t work outside the home. Occasionally the kids may stop by for a minute, but we avoid hugging and keep our distance. We just couldn’t see opening our gifts via Zoom and/or having them drop by with masks on, social distancing, to open their gifts. And fortunately the cases were starting to drop in our area (we live in a small city with a population of 15,000). So we thought about how the 10 of us could safely meet together on Christmas Eve afternoon. And then we did it. No one was sick, we discussed how to do it safely with each family member ahead of time, we distanced as best we could, opened gifts, ate our meal, and loved every minute. Did we do the right thing? By some standards, probably not. I’m happy, but also relieved.
We are human, and we are vulnerable, just like everyone else. So it’s back to the drawing board, with little contact and basically staying at home. We are eagerly looking forward to 2021 and getting the vaccine. I’ve been told that everyone should have access to the vaccine by the end of summer or early fall. And hopefully, we can put this behind us at some point.
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