The Virus Diary: Frustrated Friday
I'm frustrated. I'm sure many if not all of you are frustrated too. We've been living in this virus nightmare for nearly a year. These nearly 12 months have not been easy for any one. I truly believe that not one single person on the face of this planet has had any easy time.
We are ALL frustrated. We are ALL stressed out. And we collectively need a little relief. I know I'm not getting it. (I'm guessing you aren't either.)
Today started out frustrating because:
He's not wearing a teal jacket this week. But he's where he always is and although you can't see it (because I took this photo from behind), he does not have a mask over his nose OR his mouth. It's under his chin. I looked at him. I asked him to pull up his mask. He did. But I have seen this week after week. I am frustrated.
Further frustrating me was I saw a man, not a Shoprite employee, who was stocking the Entenmann's shelf. (It was at the end of the aisle...I've been told it's called an end cap.) He was not wearing a mask AT ALL. No face covering whatsoever.
Now I am furious and frustrated. As a result of this, someone else's life became more difficult. I am a regular customer. I know the manager by name. (Ok, he wears a nametag, but I've been around long enough that I don't have to look for it.) I found Rich again this morning. I told him again that there had been a man stocking frozen vegetables, the same man I had seen multiple weeks, this time wearing a blue jacket, and wearing a cap. He was wearing his mask under this chin. Furthermore, the man stocking the Entenmann's products, was not wearing a mask at all. I think this blew Rich away. He said that in employees (and I guess this covers vendors who come in to stock) are required to wear masks and have a temperature check before entering. I believe him. He said the man must have removed his mask after entering. I think Rich was mad. I think Rich's day just got more complicated. For that I am sorry. I am NOT sorry that I brought this to his attention.
I am NOT sorry because I am angry and frustrated. I am really angry and frustrated.
It really is simple. It needs to be simple because I am not a brilliant mind. I am your basic human being. I am not incredibly smart, but I am not stupid. In general I try to respect other people. I believe that as a member of the human race I have a responsibility to the people and living things that I share this planet with. When asked a question, I try to tell the truth. (Why all people can't or won't do this still boggles my mind.) I do my best to look at things objectively; knowing that while some things are very clear cut, others are murky. At those times I need to use my judgement and what intelligence I do have to make decisions. I know that it is wrong to lie. I know that it is wrong to purposely hurt another living creature (be it a human or animal). I know these things and I act based on that knowledge.
I know that when we are in the middle of a pandemic, when over 2.36 MILLION people have died worldwide as a result of that pandemic, and the sound medical/scientific facts advise us to wear a mask when we are out among other people, I WEAR A MASK.
It is MY responsibility to protect myself and my family. In doing such I can also protect total strangers. It is such a simple thing and yet it is earthshattering.
The mask issue is just one thing that frustrates me. The lack of humanity also frustrates me. When I see the lack of caring; the turning away...it hurts. (I have always been very partial to Luke 10:25-37). We all have the choice and the ability to "do the right thing." Why don't we? Why don't we when it is the RIGHT thing to do and when it will help so many others...including ourselves?
I am SO FRUSTRATED.
Yet...
I still have hope. There is darkness, but there is also the light of dawn each and every day. As such I will TRY to live by the words of this wise man (so maligned during his own life): "With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations." (It is, after all, the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth.)
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