It ain't as bad as they make it out to be

Maribel has had two "citizenship" celebrations thus far and as I type this is at another one with some lady friends. We think there will be at least one more celebration and possibly two. Part of the reason for these mini celebrations instead of one big one is that those people who have been vaccinated prefer not to mingle with the non-vaccinated, both for health concerns and the differing philosophical views. We've been trying to separate the vaccinated and the non-vaxxers but it's hard to do because there seems to be a real reluctance to talk about the subject, probably because it can lead to some heated exchanges, so we sometimes don't know who has been vaccinated and who hasn't. Maribel and I have had our shots and as a result have loosened up a bit on our activities but still exercise caution out of consideration for others.

I try to ignore the Covid issue all together because I become discouraged thinking about it but avoiding the subject is difficult. Several weeks ago we were at a restaurant having dinner with some friends when on one of the televisions there was an interview taking place outside of a business with a middle-aged couple. When the interviewer asked why they weren't wearing masks, the man replied, "It's not as bad as they make it out to be." The woman next to him dutifully nodded her head in agreement. My friend laughed and said that he'd like a dollar for every time he has heard that, and about a dozen other conspiracy theories. When I asked his opinion as to why he thought so many people displayed that attitude, his response was that there is no rational answer. I recalled his opinion today when reading an article about an interview with Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones, who said almost exactly the same thing. When asked what he thought regarding people who refuse the vaccine he said:

“Of course, there’s no point in speaking to people about it. They don’t get it,” he said. “They got what they believe in and they believe in that. And it doesn’t matter what you say, they’re gonna believe in it. And rational thought doesn’t work.” 

I don't regard Mick Jagger as an authority on anything, but in my view his opinion and that of my friend is spot on and nowhere is that more true than here in the south.

Recent CDC data shows that just 23 percent of Tennessee adults have been fully vaccinated. Only Alabama and Georgia have worse records. And it's not a matter of supply, at least for Tennessee. The latest CDC numbers show that Tennessee has received 4,671,560 vaccine doses, but administered just 3,299,283 of them. A member of Tennessee's Health Department commenting on the disparity of the numbers explained, “...but particularly in our rural areas – and we have a lot of people living in rural areas – there are people not coming forward for vaccination. We have ample appointment space, and those appointments are not being filled.” I would guess that that explanation is the same for Alabama and Georgia. 

Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia are beautiful states with lots of fine people, but the culture of fierce independence, personal freedom to the extreme (when it may adversely affect others), and mistrust of anything that doesn't support far right beliefs can be a real pain in the ass.

There is another school of thought regarding vaccinations. I refer to those in that group as the six-monthers. Their thinking is that they will wait six months to see what happens to those vaccinated before deciding to be vaccinated themselves. Whenever I have been foolish enough to point out that during that six-month period they could become infected and possibly endanger their health, or be asymptomatic and infect others thus spreading and delaying the eradication of the virus, the response is usually, "I don't believe that" or, "It ain't as bad as they make it out to be." I think they'd have a tough time selling that to the survivors of the 565,318 and counting who have died in the US from Covid.