Here is some food for thought: help don’t hide! Four weeks before the COVID-19 panic set in, we (you, and I, and everyone else) were walking around shedding viruses on or near everyone we encountered with differing levels of hygiene: covering coughs or not, accidentally sneezing—oops, the one that got away—and determining outflows and health outcomes for ourselves and others. Then we went home and some of us bathed at night (advisable) or not and those that bathed likely washed the viruses down the drain with soap. Or the virus took hold and we got sick.
Does this make us uncaring and immoral that we walk among the healthy and living, unknowingly shedding our viruses onto unsuspecting passersby as we hand change to the cashier! No. It is simply part of the human condition to unknowingly shed and to suffer from illness and disease.
Widespread Panic – Not Just a Band
Now with CIVID-19, which, simply stated, adds pneumonia to the cold virus, panic has set in and government leaders and traders are taking down the stock market, and closing events, businesses, schools and colleges. This is taking things from people and creating financial hardship for those of us who do not have a financial cushion to land on. I think it’s an overreaction on a level we have never seen before. There is a lot of fear and social pressure to follow along with this panic. Try not to become part of this problem. Breathe. Do yoga. Meditate. Pray. Do what it takes to get yourself and your worst fears under control because your community needs your reason, your care and your help. And yes, avoid crowds and large gatherings for now.
Remain Philosophical – Suffering is Inevitable
When cases build to a point where we think we have a reason to panic, don’t. That’s when we need to look around our community and see who needs help. If you haven’t read it yet or forgot what you read, dust off your copy of the book, The Plague by Albert Camus. I recommend it. It was written in 1947 but is a classic observation of the human condition and it holds today as a good source from which to discover a philosophy towards human suffering, as it is inevitable.
Our Social Responsibility is to Use Our Powers for Good
There may be suffering in our community from COVID-19, and, as with any pandemic, we all have a social responsibility to maintain sanitation and sanitary habits, to protect and support the elderly and the infirm with compromised immune systems.
We also have a collective responsibility to help each other, not to quarantine. Quarantining people brings out the worst fears and selfishness in people. This is not yet the plague. But if it becomes a plague in your community and you are healthy, then please consider going to volunteer at the hospital or clinic. Or cook something and take a meal to an elderly neighbor. Help someone who needs it. Be part of the solution and be free, while you live, with a clear conscience that you’ve done all you can to help others in your community.
Food for Thought – Help Don’t Hide – Some Practical Advice
Below are some practical things you can do to protect elderly or immune-compromised people who can’t leave home.
Keep Yourself and Area Clean
Sanitize surfaces using bleach water. This link offers advice from the Centers for Disease Control on bleaching to prevent the spread of germs. If there is any time to use bleach water to disinfect, this is it.
Strip Down and Wash Your Clothes
If you are living with an elderly person or a person with reduced immune system, when you return from work, place your clothes in the washer and leave your shoes outside. Shower off the day’s grime and germs, being careful to wash yourself thoroughly with soap.
Let’s try and stay calm and make ourselves useful.
Photo provided by Sarah Ripley. The subject is our wonderful, 93-year-old mother Ann Ripley.
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