“Why Do You Write About Covid So Much?”
Imagine someone you love.
Someone who truly has impacted your life.
Someone you can’t imagine life without.
Now imagine life without them.
You can take these simple steps to help end the pandemic.
Imagine how devastated you would be, how drowned in sadness you would feel.
I see people expressing this feeling every day on social media.
People who have lost loved ones to covid.
Their posts are heartbreaking. They exude sorrow and helplessness, as they struggle against the fact that someone who meant so much to them, who was so much a part of their world, is now gone.
Many of these people are older. Many are parents, who were the foundation to their children’s lives, who were always there for them, who loved them unconditionally. Many more are grandparents, who taught their children and grandchildren, who were the ones who watched them and guided them and left them with incredible memories that shaped the people they are now.
It’s incredibly sad to see people post about the losses of these people.
It’s incredibly sad for me to have lost people who are family and friends, people who meant something to me, who live on in memories, but who I’d much rather have as a part of my life.
Someone messaged me yesterday, asking me why I write about covid so much. Why don’t I just stick to entertainment writing?
People have said to me, why do you make such a big deal about it?
Many of those people haven’t lost anyone close to them. Yet.
And it’s sad that some people have to experience that loss for themselves to really get it, to suddenly recognize that this is real, that this is something that’s more than just an eye roll or a political game or something to post about on social media as you make fun of people for wearing masks as if you’re so much more rugged and tough for not wearing one.
It takes a stronger person to feel compassion for others. It takes a stronger person to feel empathy for others. It takes a stronger person to look at someone else’s pain and not only feel sorry for them, but to recognize that they’re part of a greater humanity, and that if you can take an action, especially one that’s so relatively small, to prevent others from feeling that pain, to prevent others from losing their lives, then you should be strong enough to take that action, to make that small sacrifice because in some way, it may help someone’s life be better, it may
The QC Covid-19 Coalition offers many resources at togetherqc.com.
help save someone’s life.
This is why I write about covid so much.
I didn’t intend to. When this pandemic started, my reporting was still confined to entertainment and features, positive news. Then it transitioned to news about places closing down, events being canceled, the ways in which the entertainment world was changing.
Then it was about how the arts and entertainment world was pretty much shut down, as millions of people nationwide were left without jobs, without careers, without livelihoods.
Then, sadly, I started to have to write obituaries, as people I knew, as people who had been a part of countless people’s lives on the local arts scene, began to fade away.
And as I was writing these stories, I started to notice, more, the ignorance and callousness of many people.
“Why should I change my life?”
“I’m not wearing no mask!”
“What are you, a covid freak?”
I have over 15,000 people across all my social media platforms, so I see a lot, I get a pretty good cross-section of humanity as I look over them. And what I’ve seen has been disturbing to say the least. Even as people were dying, being hit hard by illness, losing their jobs and careers, their businesses, people continued to politicize something that above all should’ve transcended politics. A virus. A disease. A sickness. Something for which there were none of the artificial borders and tribalisms society inflicts upon us, to divide us and make us forget that we have far more in common than we have in differences.
People arguing, acting as if verifiable facts and data were somehow subject to the same dismissal and veracity as baseless opinion and conjecture, ridiculous conspiracy theory. And then some media outlets actually having the gall to publish absolutely moronic theories on things like 5G towers being somehow responsible for the illnesses as if the scientifically-proven existence of a virus was somehow being covered up by millions of doctors, nurses and scientists worldwide.
That’s why I started writing about covid. That’s why I made sure to include links to all data points in my stories. That’s why I made sure that all my reporting was FACT- based. So that people could have accurate and timely information without any spin, without any bias other than
The push is on to vaccinate as many people as possible against Covid.
the bias towards giving people information and helping them live better lives, helping them save lives.
That’s what I’m continuing to do.
Presenting accurate and fact-based information.
Asking people to take the very reasonable precautions of wearing masks, limiting social interactions, social distancing, having a good diet and exercise routine, taking vitamins like C and D as well as multivitamins and minerals to help boost your immune system. Common sense precautions. That’s all I’m doing myself, that’s all I would recommend people would do as well. Because THAT’S WHAT THE SCIENTISTS, HEALTHCARE WORKERS AND EXPERTS ARE ADVISING US TO DO.
It’s amazing to me that people will listen to experts and doctors in regard to so many things, and yet not this.
It’s amazing to me that people will act as if the very simple, common sense advise of wearing a mask, social distancing, and boosting their immune systems, are such arduous chores.
It’s amazing to me that people will look at the pain of others being ripped open on social media, and add their perfunctory “so sorry for your loss” comment without taking action to prevent others from suffering the same loss, even themselves.
I don’t want to suffer those losses.
I don’t want you to suffer those losses.
I don’t care about your politics, your religion, what tribe you identify as.
I want us all to get through this, alive and well.
And that, that is why I continue to write about covid.
