Got your gift. Thank you!
COVID-19 has been a delight. I know 1,065,076 Americans have died, and 96,940,217 Americans have had the virus, but your rights! You first; the rest of us can die. That’s the sentiment, right? My body, my choice (unless it’s a woman and her uterus).
I work from home and have had the two primary shots and two boosters. I’ve done everything I was supposed to. I mitigated my exposure and watched with horror as other Americans (true Patriots) sneered at having to wear a mask and “chose” not to get the vaccine. I honestly thought I was one of the finalists for those who never got COVID-19. Seriously, I thought there was a prize! Not just my health, but, like, money or a trophy! The pandemic is over (I’ve been told). And then my wife had to travel. Masks are for losers! And how are those wearing masks supposed to eat their complimentary snack and beverage onboard while wearing a mask? So we drop our masks, take a sip, and put them back on. Nibble a snack quickly and put on our masks. Meanwhile, Mr. Libertarian next to her dribbles his drink and eats his snack like he’s never seen a Cheez-It before.
But here I am, COVID-19 positive again! Yes, I had the virus last week, and when my blood oxygen level dropped, my doctor decided I was a good candidate for the emergency use authorized antiviral, Paxlovid. Unfortunately, the Paxlovid knocked the virus down but not out. And I, like many others, two to eight days after completing our 5-day regimen of Paxlovid, suffer something called COVID-19 Rebound. Because it did not destroy the virus, once the regimen is over, the remaining virus cells begin replicating until you eventually test positive.
After the first time I tested positive, I asked my wife when I could express my anger at having to get the coronavirus this far into the (now over) pandemic. I am convinced that if everyone had done what they were supposed to – wear a mask and get the damn shot(s), this would all be in the rearview mirror, a devastating pandemic about which we would all be proud of conquering. She said to ride it out, and the symptoms probably wouldn’t be severe because of the shots and boosters we had gotten. She was right. The symptoms (apart from the dip in blood oxygen) were akin to a head cold. And not the worst head cold I’ve ever had.
But now I have rebounded into positive territory again. Now I’m pissed. Now I’m ready to kick anyone’s ass who had the selfish gall to refuse to wear a mask during the height of the first wave(s) and the self-entitled bullshit they spewed to refuse the vaccine. Science gave us the answer to the problem. Unfortunately, those whose med school training consists of InfoWars silver supplements, bleach, and injecting light into their body have left us vulnerable. This shit should be over. But, no, the armchair epidemiologists and selfish pricks who decided a mask was an infringement on their right to be an asshole and the vaccine was a global conspiracy involving Jewish space lasers and magnetism have dragged this virus (and all of the mutations that would never have been able to get a footing if we had dealt with this correctly as a community, as a nation, into today.
So, again, I’d like to thank the assholes who decided their right to individual stupidity overrode my right not to get this damn virus. Someone said freedom without responsibility isn’t freedom; it’s adolescence. We owe an apology to adolescents. Let’s be honest. Freedom without responsibility is America.
