Personal Sacrifices - Why can't we make them now?

I admit I had a melt down a few weeks ago - anxiety, depression, and physical illness. I have tried to understand why. Being alone is not that unusual for me. I have always enjoyed my private time. In fact, I am relishing the fact that I don't have children who would come in to see me and bring COVID-19 from their outings with friends. I think it was the uncertainty of what I should do to protect myself.  We were getting so many mixed messages in the beginning of this pandemic.

I am grateful I have my own home, and I do not have to go out to work. I can work from home, as I will do soon, teaching a writing class on Zoom. How fortunate I am to be savvy on my computer so I can do that. Many of my generation cannot.

I was thinking today about all the personal sacrifices my parents made in their lifetimes. My father had to go to work when he was just a boy, before there were child labor laws. His father died when he was ten. His childhood was far from normal.

Mother and Daddy lived through WWII and sent their oldest son off when he was only nineteen. They did not know if he would be killed or come home safely. Two of his cousins went to that war and did not ever come home. Those personal sacrifices for the sake of our country were the hardest anyone could ever make.

During the Great Depression when my parents had three little children, long before I was born, they lived above a store they ran. In front of the store were gas pumps and their place was called a filling station. When their customers lost jobs and had no money to purchase the food or gasoline, my family lived off the food on the shelves of the store. They did not buy clothes, groceries, and certainly did not travel. Today, if folks can't take their family vacation to the beach, they are angry and upset. They have not stopped ordering off Amazon and can get almost anything they want delivered. My parents stayed home in Pelham, Georgia. They were not the only ones. Most people had to sacrifice comforts they had once enjoyed.

A friend of mine who has a twenty-something son says his generation has always had what they wanted and won't sacrifice anything now to help stop this corona-virus if it means staying home or avoiding friends and gatherings. I wonder how they would handle the draft. What if they were told they must serve in the military whether they liked it or not in order to preserve our country?

What if food was rationed? They could only have certain foods and only a small amount of it.
What if they could only buy a small amount of gasoline each month? What if they had to make a personal sacrifice to save the lives of their parents? What would be their answer?

That is what is being asked of them now. Make a personal sacrifice that can save the lives of your family and the lives of others.

A nurse told me today that she wore a mask, not for herself, but to protect others. Her grandfather is in his nineties, and she would be horrified if she brought this deadly virus  to him. She also said she was not sure she believed the mask made that much difference, but it was a small sacrifice to make if it saved even one person's life. In the hospital where she works, she said there was around 100 people diagnosed with COVID-19 at this time. That hospital is about thirty minutes drive from where I live. She had been with three of those patients in the last few days.

Recently a smart and caring young woman who wants to come and visit her family, after hearing how the mayor of Atlanta, who was being careful and following the guidelines given to all of us, has tested positive for COVID-19, decided not to come home and is self-quarantined in her apartment. Four members of her family are all sick with the virus. The older of the four is the sickest at this time. Even when we wear masks, and we go out among people, even people we know, we have a good chance of getting sick. Most people don't know where they caught the virus.

Many people are making huge sacrifices because they have jobs they must go to every day. Many are among those with the lowest income, minorities, people of color, and they are dying from this virus. That is the biggest sacrifice. Not missed vacations, missed concerts, missed entertainment. Some are concerned about their future - will they have a job when they finish college? Who knows, but still we all must give up gathering in groups where we could become infected.

I have had to give up going to certain doctors who will not enforce wearing a mask and who will not wear one themselves. I think, if they won't wear a mask to protect me, are they doing anything in that office - sanitizing after each patient, or are they just among those who don't believe there is a deadly virus going around that kills us? Why don't they believe something so obvious?

We must make the sacrifices necessary to stop this enemy in its tracks or we will never feel safe going out in the world again. I applaud the young people I know who are doing everything right, wearing masks, washing hands, avoiding crowds and practicing social distancing. If only those who seem to be selfish and uncaring would think of others when they are so determined to have a good time with no precautions.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/03/magazine/personal-sacrifice-coronavirus-world-war-ii.html

CHANGES ARE COMING - WHAT WILL THEY BE?

We are told that our lives will never be the same. Some are extremely worried about the changes that will come.

Perhaps no more gathering of huge crowds, maybe people won't hug and kiss like they used to, and some say we will no longer shake hands after this virus has shaken us to our core. Will we bow when we meet as the Japanese do?

Some younger folk say the change in our lives will be worse than the virus. Really??

History will show us that our lives in this country change with almost every generation. It is not only the economy that changes, but our manners, our behavior and values change over time. Even our language changes as time goes on.

When I was young, life was far different from what we have today. It was not acceptable for a single woman to birth a baby. Divorce was not nearly so accepted as it is today. At least that was the way I remember it. Today it seems we have more divorces than marriages and in my day, couples did not live together until they married. 

Women had few rights. Only the husband was permitted to have a credit card. The wife could sign on his card, but he was always the primary card holder and her rights were limited. A woman could have her charges refused because she was not the owner of the card.

The way young people dated was far different than today. Instead of going out at 10:00 PM as they do today, we had to be home by 11:00 PM.

I have found that my lifestyle changed immensely as I grew older. Television, telephones and automobiles are all far different than they were when I was in my thirties and forties. But I have accepted these changes for the most part, even though I want to keep my landline, I don't want to be forced to text, to be on Twitter, and I refuse to be controlled by a smart phone glued to my palm.

I don't worry about the changes we will face when this deadly virus is finally under control. I only hope that the changes will make us a kinder and more understanding society. I hope the generosity displayed now will continue. Maybe the compassion for those who are in need will actually grow, and maybe we will not have so much greed among our people who have so much. Might we learn we don't have to have everything we think we want?

Wouldn't it be good if those who are paid millions of dollars would say, "Let's pay our workers more instead of giving me a raise." 

Maybe those in power will say, "We must raise the minimum wage. We must see that all those who work a forty-hour week can feed their families and pay for a roof over their heads without having to work a second or third job."

I hope that nurses and medical workers will be guaranteed better pay and that more of these important people will be trained and hired. I know from personal experience, when someone is sick in the hospital, a kind and caring nurse is the most important person in their world.

Could we possibly fix the broken health care system in the United States? We must do something soon because fewer people are going into the medical profession. This virus might make this profession more undesirable as we see  our first-line workers lacking the protection they need.

We hear from those who want to encourage us, to give us hope even if their words are lies. But the truth comes out. It usually does. The truth is that we don't know what changes lie ahead. No one knows. We do know we will have to accept them and move on, just as we have always done. 

In time this period will be a part of World History and written about in text books; the death toll, the fear and uncertainty. The heroes and the villains will be mentioned, the blame and the praise will be written. 

The coming week is supposed to be a deadly one. I hope the states that are not enforcing stay at home rules will wake up! If it is in Georgia, it can easily spread to South Carolina. Only an ignorant person thinks their area is safe unless they stop person to person contact. 

I will be home this week and weeks to come. I will do without some things because I will not go out to public places. We are told to stay away from grocery stores and pharmacies. 

I wrote in my journal this morning and I listed the things for which I am so, so grateful. I suggest everyone do that. List five things and you will be surprised at how much better you feel.

Be safe. Stay home and stay in touch with your loved ones by email or telephone.
What do you recommend for us as we self-quarantine at our homes?