The Hidden Costs
Returning to work brings a number of advantages. It usually involves hearing stories that always seem to surprise me. In the era of COVID, I get to hear stories that end up shocking us in the end. For today, those stories center on sick people that have been denied care because hospitals are full of Covidiots.
We know it’s happening, but these stories become more real when we hear them from someone we know. Of course, I realize I’m preaching to the choir here and preaching to the choir doesn’t exactly bring a lot of converts. Maybe it’s just a few tortured souls complaining together in the wilderness.
Since I’m not a lawyer or a doctor I know only a few things. First, I know that doctors have a duty to help everyone that comes their way. Secondly, the numbers of Covidiots being hospitalized has caused traditional patients to somehow get the shaft.
I’m not smart enough to figure out how we work around this problem. I know I would mandate the vaccine and masks, but we all know that this will never happen across the board. Obviously, some public entities are requiring it in some circumstances. My wife will not be allowed back on site at JSC unless she can prove she has been vaccinated. Unfortunately, private businesses and most other job sites are not doing the same.
So, we rely on the humanity of others. We rely on people to feel shame for their behavior or empathy for others that may need those hospital beds. Shame and empathy seem to be in short supply. Any kind of collective responsibility is seen as socialism and evil. So, about 40 percent of the population refuse to see how their inaction has impacted the rest of us.
The question before us is how we can ultimately deal with this problem. Certainly, some have offered suggestions that will make things better in a marginal way, but the problem is so widespread that these minor suggestions serve as a ripple in the sea.
So, that brings us to the two key questions of the day. First, in terms of hospitalization, is there any legal way to force those that actively chose not to safeguard themselves or the community to wait? Secondly, and more importantly, how do we get people to understand that they are responsible for not only themselves but to those around them as well? I’m open to suggestions.
I do not have that magic wand in my armamentarium. I went for my usual Thursday morning food bank run, trying to avoid the maskless woman who was coughing…without even attempting to cover her mouth, then had to listen to a conversation about how “parents should be allowed to decide for their own children whether to send them to school with masks”. It’s not for You or YOUR kids, it’s for everyone Else.
It’s not rocket science. It’s (as the masked woman entering the store said on her way in) “just plain common sense”. Which doesn’t appear to be common, at all.
1You think and write well, Nick. Glad you’re here.
2Hussy – it is unfortunately true than “common sense” is anything but “common”.
3@Opinionated Hussy: What is called common has become all too uncommon. Like critical thinking has been replaced by unthinking criticism in too many cases, we now have a plague of common senselessness.
4I understand the frustration with the health care seeming to be overwhelmed by the inconsiderate unvaccinated masses as the deadly Delta variant rushes with tidal force effort.
I myself have been sick for last three days (primarily headache and NO energy). Note: I am fully vaccinated. Yesterday I went looking for doing covid testing, just in case, and was astounded that it looks like 8 to 10 days to be able to schedule telemedicine visit (required before testing via my primary care provider) and for testing was over 3 days out in many of the facilities I looked into that don’t require PCP referral.
So, not only are the hospitals overwhelmed, but it looks like the other testing facilities are overwhelmed too.
However, I don’t want a healthcare system that shifts to a standard of care that is based on someone’s judgment that you have “earned the care.” I’m morbidly obese with metabolic syndrome. There are plenty of doctors who believe these conditions are due to a lack of willpower. I even had one physiologist make the “if you don’t fix this, you are being a burden to the world” type argument.
I am frustrated, but I don’t like the repercussions that could occur if we decide the unvaccinated are not worthy of concern. I especially would dread if Republican politicians were the one’s creating the judgment scale.
I will continue to be frustrated and angry at the willfully ignorant. But I choose to send positive energy and thanks to the medical workers. Focus on those you can think kindly of–it makes you and the world a better place–at least I hope it does.
5You raise some very valid concerns Star and that is the reason why I don’t consider myself smart enough to offer a fix all solution. I’m not in the exact same boat as you, but I did get the Type Two Diabetes diagnosis three years ago and can’t help but think diet and lifestyle played a good part in that. I don’t know how much of that is something I only internally feel or if those around me also judge me the same way. So, I definitely get the idea that care should not be based on others’ perceptions of how deserving the care is.
I also can never bring myself to root for anyone to die. I want everyone to get care. I don’t want anyone to suffer no matter who they are or what they may or may not have done. I guess it is the knowledge that people getting denied a bed are people that were likely vaccinated, masking up, and social distancing. They just simply had a medical emergency that they could not plan for. My father has been in out of the hospital numerous times with a heart condition for instance. The thought of him being sent away because there isn’t enough bed space is unfathomable.
I simply can’t understand people’s unwillingness to do the simplest of things to keep everyone safe. However, how some seem so sure of the right thing to do in all circumstances also baffles me. There are so many contingencies and possibilities that it can be paralyzing. Yet, there is no way to deal with the complex when people can’t be bothered to do the simple.
6What the mask averse and unvaccinated call their right, the rest of us call selfish.
7I believe that the republicans have been passing laws to allow doctors and hospitals to refuse treatment based on religious beliefs (treating LGBTQ, abortion support, etc.) I would suggest a nice startup religion that requires you to either take the bare minimum steps to help yourself, or be refused treatment.
8It’s already happening in Dallas… “If North Texas runs out of ICU hospital beds, doctors can consider a patient’s vaccination status.” (per Dallas Morning News)
9Sorry, Nick. No suggestions here — just another sad, pathetic story.
I have a friend who’s been battling colon cancer –which has metastasized — for 3 or 4 years now. She has a daughter who holds a job which is not forgiving at all. So she has to drop her young, unvaccinated children off at their grandma’s [my friend’s] house on her way to work. There, they get breakfast and wait for the school bus while grandma gets ready for work.
Fortunately, grandma’s job IS forgiving and allows her to work from home more days than not so she can shield herself from coworkers who could transmit covid or other diseases to her as she alternates between chemo and radiation treatments to liver and, for God’s sake, LUNGS. But her grandchildren are more likely vectors than her coworkers are.
There is no good news to be had in her household. She can’t even retire because the health insurance at her job is TOO GOOD to go without. Her employer did the right thing and caught my friend in a wringer in the process.
10Star, I hope you’re doing better.
11And I hope that particular physiologist’s organs fail in a cascading fashion due to the same level of care he or she gave you.
What you said in paragraph 5 of your comment needs to be in the bloodstream of every conversation about Covid, and
Healthcare in general going forward.