You might be “fine”, but you could kill my husband…

Social distancing because of the current coronavirus pandemic isn’t just a mild suggestion. I’m sure by now we have all learned we need to “flatten the curve” or isolate. If you don’t understand why though, Google it. There is a ton of CDC recommendations, legitimate medical advice articles, and more out there. If you know why and just don’t care because this is “like the flu” and not a big deal then you are a selfish human. We are all in this together and we are only strong when we are all doing our part. I am going to lay my cards out on the table. While you “would be ok”, you could kill my husband…or my mother, your grandmother, your neighbors immune compromised child, the person going through chemo, or a doctor that we desperately need to staff our hospitals. Also, the people who say, “no big deal, it’s just the flu” I don’t know what flu you have had, but I am usually begging God to take me at some point during the 2 bad flus I have had and I definitely don’t want that.

Why is this making me feel frustrated and angry? Because my husband was suppose to have a new heart valve put in next week. He has a heart problem that his medication is no longer working for. Will he be able to still have the surgery next week? We don’t know yet, but my guess is no. Does this scare me because his heart is currently a walking time bomb? Yes. Does the fact that people are still packing bars to drink instead of staying at home to flatten the curve upset me? Absolutely! I woke up this morning to images of packed bars for St. Patty’s day parties from this weekend. This makes me feel angry for two reasons, if the hospitals aren’t overwhelmed, he could still get the surgery he desperately needs, and the second reason is because his body couldn’t handle getting COVID-19 and slowing the spread could save his life. He would fall into that demographic that does not fair well, and there are so many more people just like him. So this my friends, this is why I am asking you to stay home. 

Let me put it another way, while social distancing and staying home is putting a cramp in your style, having to bury a relative or friend would be far worse, so would needing medical care and not being able to receive it because our healthcare system is beyond strained. Not trying to be overly dramatic, just trying to keep it real. 

Also, we are ALL sad about something we are missing. My daughter turns 10 in nine days and there will be no school celebration, birthday party, or trip we had planned. It’s a bummer, but we will make it through and we will have a fun party with friends at some point when it is safe in the future. We are all missing field trips, sporting events, birthday parties, planned vacations, conferences, and school gatherings, plus so much more. Again, we are all in this together and the sooner we are self distancing, the better off we will be in the long run. 

In the beginning we got a little extra food, so there would be no need to go anywhere. We didn’t hoard, just got enough things for our family. I then naively expected others to do the same thing. I expected this to bring out the best in people. I expected people to come together by not coming together IRL. I thought our nation would rally together to help our healthcare workers by staying at home. What happened? I know a lot of you are and I truly appreciate that, but I am baffled by those that think this is “overreacting”. If that is the case, wouldn’t it be better to overreact than under react? Would you show up to a knife fight with a butter knife? Would you go camping with no gear? Then go home and stay there so we give our healthcare workers and population a fighting chance.

I don’t think there is a business that isn’t hurting right now economically except maybe the grocery stores and hand sanitizer businesses. I know that so many of us are feeling this mentally, emotionally, and financially. I co-own a conference series where we had to postpone our conference that was suppose to be last Saturday. My other business is this that you are reading, this website. I write a lot about running and races invite me out to run their races and that also helps pay my bills and right now there are no races for the foreseeable future. So businesses you probably don’t even think of are hurting like you are too. I see you and I feel you. Like your child’s karate studio, your friend who is a bartender, your neighbor who is a musician, your service worker who has no childcare therefore can’t work, and so many more. None of us are ok, but we will get through this if we are all team players. Stay home. Please stay home. 

Here are some other posts:

20 Things To Do With Your Kids While Social Distancing

8 Ways To Workout Without Being Around Other People