Gone, gone, gone. Right? (Nope.)

Photo by Rodion Kutsaiev on Unsplash

Gone! Skittered away! Vamoosed.

(Really? What IS she going on about now?? No diatribes, I hope. I don’t really feel up to to dealing with diatribes at the moment.)

Well, it’s more in the nature of a mini-diatribe. A mini “whoa, can you believe this?!”

Ok, willing to give you the benefit of the doubt…so proceed.

What is this “gone!” thing? Vamoosed, where?

Masks! Surgical masks, N-95 masks, KN95 masks, and all those cute masks with eye-catching designs on them. Gone with the wind (or whatever passes for wind these days.) Just G-O-N-E.

Come on, now; how freeing to be free! None of this “OMG, I need to go back to the car and retrieve my mask!” A serious relief. Admit it! Join the rest of our freed populace! All we need now for shopping is our credit and store grocery cards. Right?

Except when you catch Covid. Except when you catch Covid. And the friend who accompanied you through that lovely knee replacement surgery, and stayed with you at home, also catches Covid. And the incredibly sweet home health PT who visited you, 2 days post-surgery, also tests positive. And, oh, no, one of that PT’s at-home patients, visited after seeing me - well, you’re smart, just fill in the blank… That’s right, also tested positive. And, oh, how could I forget another lovely friend who stepped into the breach as a caregiver for me and as a result of my Covid status, is now isolating in a separate house from his wife, cuddling with his thermometer, Paxlovid, and Covid tests. Such a great getaway! NOT.

Where did I contract the virus? Hey, I am, or was, among our happy humans freed from mask-wearing. The medical facility in which the knee-replacement occurred evidenced few masks. Albeit some, yes, which, sadly, left me, wondering “what’s wrong with that mask wearer?“ In retrospect, “ouch” for that thought. O-U-C-H (I’m sorry for having those thoughts, o’ mask wearers!)

OMG, did I forget to mention that I was vaccinated up the wazoo? I was. Sigh. Don’t even ask me how many I received since I’d have to dig out my vaccination card.

And now, bravely, sharing some VULNERABLE reflective thoughts. Please feel free to skip and go directly to the palette cleanser of your choice if hearing “vulnerable” makes you feel queasy. Speaking for moi, only. I bought into the Covid Kool-Aid, that it’s gone. Gone, gone, gone. I didn’t want to wear a mask, again, and leave people wondering “what’s wrong with her?“ I didn’t want to separate myself from the rest of my fellow populace-at stores, doctors, offices, etc. I wanted to be like most everyone else, meaning, not wearing masks. And, I didn’t want to catch Covid, but hey, everybody else wasn’t wearing a mask…..Oh, yeah, I really, really didn’t want to catch Covid three days after a full knee replacement (or share it with as many people as I apparently have.) Would you?

For the sake of truthiness in storytelling, I need to add the ‘dinosaur’ alert. Almost everyone I know who has been afflicted with this Covid strain is 50 + years old. Geez, grey hair on the horizon! Get thee away!

Once I take all the prescribed Covid meds (which, I hope, may already be helping), I’m kicking my Covid Kool-Aid container out the back door where, perhaps, the NC copperheads might enjoy it.