I Am Not a Germaphobe

 

I am not now, nor have I ever been, nor will I ever be, a germaphobe.

I started out rocky.  I had all the diseases typical of my generation—mumps, chickenpox, measles, both hard and soft.  I had pneumonia twice.  I had mononucleosis. 

The hard (or German) measles I got as a Kindergartener almost killed me. Our family doctor was worried whether I would pull through.  I just remember being very sick for a very long time.

People with rough childhood illnesses often become germaphobes, especially those who've had scarlet fever (which is one I do not recall having).  

I'm not sure why it didn't turn me into a germaphobe.  Once I became an adult, I've had very few illnesses, except for the type of hepatitis you get from food contamination when I was 27.  Flu and colds have been mild and infrequent.

I have had a strong immune system, and I believe, right or wrong, that my childhood exposures helped improve my immunities.  So, I used less caution than most.

I have been in a number of plays where people all around me were getting sick, and I got nothing.  And that's with taking no special precautions.

I have missed very few workdays in my life.  Well, at least from illness.  My last major flu was in 2000, my first tax season.  For better or worse, I worked through it, even with temps approaching 103.  I finally went to a care clinic, and they gave me a Z-Pac (a rare trip to Antibiotic World).  I asked how long I should stay out of work, and the doctor said I was already past being contagious, and I should just keep going to work. So, back I went, fever and all.

I did not get a flu shot until about three years ago.  I'm not an idiot or anti-vaxxer.  I recognized that, as good as my immune system has been, I was aging and not super-human.  The first two years after the shot, I did develop a mild flu/cold.  Again, nothing that kept me out of work.

So, please pay attention.

I am not approaching the pandemic as a germaphobe.  Right or wrong, I'm not super worried about getting it myself.  But I am deeply concerned about passing it onto others.  

It is a deeply insidious disease.  Many who get it sail right through.  Others wind up with severe symptoms, and some wind up hospitalized. And some, about 2 to 3 %, die.

I am not germaphobic.  I am woke.  I realize the damage this virus has caused, and will cause if it remains unchecked.

I care about other people.  I don't want us to go through a true herd immunity process that will result in the death of millions.

I don't want to put Alison's Mom & Dad, both of whom have other health problems, at risk.

Personal liberty is not the issue.  My immunity system and cavalier attitude towards catching things is not the issue.  

The issue is caring about other people.  The issue is doing what one can to mitigate the harm and death this virus is causing.

So, I do what I can.  I wear a mask. I socially distance.  I participate in no activity where people are not following basic human decency and caring.

Perhaps I should have been more cautious in the past.  I can see that now.  The best I can say, except for the 2000 incident, I've never gotten anything to give to anybody.  But now I understand better about asymptomatic transmission, and I've rethought my former attitude.

This does not make me a germaphobe.  

It means (I hope) I am somebody who gives a damn about other people.