Three thousand Americans died from Covid-19 in one day.
Three thousand.
3000
It’s been eleven months since this virus appeared on our shores. We locked down to slow the spread in the beginning. We watched in horror as New York City was filled with death and morgue trucks. We shivered at the stories of nursing homes being overrun. So we shut down. The world shut down. The world seemed to stand still. Frozen in time.
And then we got bored.
We got antsy.
We couldn’t take being home.
So we ignored the doctors. We ignored the scientists. We ignored the pleas of the dying and infected.
And we demanded our lives back.
We stormed capital buildings with guns. We called it a hoax. We screamed about freedom and patriotism.
And we forced the country open.
And now, after eleven months, we are seeing the worst of this virus. Brought on by the worst of us.
It should be no surprise, however.
This should not be a shock to see.
Our country has closed its eyes and ears to common sense and morality for a long time.
Just a generation ago we lived in a society with second class citizens. Citizens deemed unworthy to eat in the same restaurant as others simply because the color of their skin.
There was no justifiable reason for that to have ever happened. But it did. For far too long. And it is something we still deal with today. There are people who see color as a negative to the right of being an American. There are marches by racists in American streets…in 2020. Egged on by their President.
So it should not surprise us that so many Americans don’t care about anyone but themselves.
We should not be surprised when someone screams about their freedoms being infringed while putting someone else’s life at risk.
Everyone else be damned.
Give me Liberty and give you death.
Three thousand Americans died in one day from a virus that we know how to combat.
One hundred thousand Americans are in hospitals.
Nurses and doctors are exhausted from fighting a virus and their fellow citizens at the same time.
Many of us found ways to live with the virus. We found ways to adapt. We don’t want to wear a mask but understand why we need to. We want to go out, see concerts and movies, visit family and friends. We want life to be normal. But we know we can’t. Not yet.
But maybe life was never normal. Maybe this virus is finally showing us, the ones who may not have seen the truth, that not everyone has a normal life.
There are people today who say this virus is fake. They have no real evidence to prove it. They say the constitution is being burned by all these rules and regulations. They would rather put your life at risk so they can do what they want. There are many of those people. Just as there are many who still think a person of color is not an equal to white Americans. There are those who think homosexuals are not equal. That women are not equal.
So it should be no surprise when we see so many standing defiantly against doctors and scientists because their desires are not being met.
Three thousand Americans died yesterday.
And there are those who don’t believe that.
And I am no longer surprised.
