I’m not sure that there isn’t reason for concern, Jeff. My 85-year-old unvaccinated mother lives in a highly vaxxed community and I have been appalled by the way she’s been treated. Just a few examples: at one point, someone saw fit to report to my older sister that my mother had been seen in the co-op without a mask. A woman she’s been friends with for fifty years stopped talking to her because she was so upset that she hadn’t been vaccinated. And yes, her friendly next-door neighbor, with whom she’s been friends for forty years, was so upset after my mother recovered from covid that she blew up at her, berating her for not having been vaccinated, urging her to get vaccinated, and shouting at her, “Come spring, there’s going to be a public lashing!” I’m not exactly sure what she meant by that, but the vitriol is there, bubbling beneath the surface.
But I agree that we can’t be consumed by their hatred (which, it seems to me, is borne of fear) or allow it to dictate our lives. When her neighbor later fell ill with the flu, my mom brought her soup, which was gratefully received.
It seems to me that many are lost. I encourage my mom to be a light shining in the darkness, something that people can make their way towards once they pick their heads up and realize they’ve lost their way.
I’m not sure that there isn’t reason for concern, Jeff. My 85-year-old unvaccinated mother lives in a highly vaxxed community and I have been appalled by the way she’s been treated. Just a few examples: at one point, someone saw fit to report to my older sister that my mother had been seen in the co-op without a mask. A woman she’s been friends with for fifty years stopped talking to her because she was so upset that she hadn’t been vaccinated. And yes, her friendly next-door neighbor, with whom she’s been friends for forty years, was so upset after my mother recovered from covid that she blew up at her, berating her for not having been vaccinated, urging her to get vaccinated, and shouting at her, “Come spring, there’s going to be a public lashing!” I’m not exactly sure what she meant by that, but the vitriol is there, bubbling beneath the surface.
But I agree that we can’t be consumed by their hatred (which, it seems to me, is borne of fear) or allow it to dictate our lives. When her neighbor later fell ill with the flu, my mom brought her soup, which was gratefully received.
It seems to me that many are lost. I encourage my mom to be a light shining in the darkness, something that people can make their way towards once they pick their heads up and realize they’ve lost their way.