The sign reads clearly: PLEASE REMAIN SIX FEET APART. Additionally, the store has operated above and beyond to lay feet markers on the floor, in the event that we, the customers, have no concept of what 6 feet look like. Good for us, right?!
So, we are all standing in the queue waiting to be cashed; I am the last person in line (for now). From my vantage point, everyone in the store is maintaining their distance and properly masked. Everyone is also required to sanitize at the door before entering. Evidently, the store has played its part to ensure that the customers oblige with the general protocols suggested by the CDC and put in place by our government.
Fine – ‘cause NO ONE wants to get COVID, nor does anyone want to be guilty of passing it on – or so I thought (since many transmitters are Asymptomatic).
It is now my turn, and there is no one behind me, so I walk up to the cashier and lay my items on the counter. This is a pharmacy/convenient store, so people come in for anything between a pin and an anchor. The cashier rings me up, and as I was about to hand her my cash, a family of three comes and stands directly behind me – a pregnant woman, her toddler daughter and a man. They couldn’t be any physically closer to me if they were my handbag. In fact, the little girl, who appeared to be about 4 years old, was touching the hem of my garment. I looked down at the child and looked up at the parents, square in the eyes then I step to the side, because in my mind, these two adults could never be serious; the child is being guided by them, so this is not on her, obviously. As I step to the side, they move closer …. To ME and the counter. My items are on the counter, and it is obvious – at least to me and to the cashier who is awaiting my payment. The cashier looks at them in bewildered disbelief but says nothing. By now, they are occupying the feet cut-outs that should have been occupied by me.
I stretch from afar and hand the cashier my money and move farther away from the family. The cashier continues to observe and looks at me and then back at them. She wants to hand me the change and my items, which have now been bagged, but I refuse to go back to the counter since they have now completely taken over the entire standing space and counter; plus, these people are not a part of my bubble, so why should I be forced to interact this closely with them. I mean, I am all of 5ft 8 inches and not as slim as I used to be – certainly bigger than I was last year (COVID nyammings), so my presence is very evident.
The pregnant lady (who is obviously the leader of the clan) sees that I am standing still and not moving to retrieve my bagged items (sitting on the counter) or my change (because silence and body language are just as effective communication, if read properly). The cashier finally musters the courage to tell them to step back.
Reluctantly, they do. The woman, in her very advanced stage of pregnancy hisses her teeth and blurts out “None of us here have COVID” (referring to herself and her family). She continued, “you people in ****** are riddled with Covid and no one has it where we live”. She grabs the hand of her child and hubby (I am assuming he is, because of their interaction) and pulls them out of my way (protocol now observed) quite bothered that she is being required to distance herself from ME.
The vocal side of my brain had a retort for her, while the other side of my brain – the introvert that does not like to speak unless I ABSOLUTELY must – stapled my mouth shut. Needless to say, I said nothing! When they were appropriately distanced, I retrieved my items, said thank you to the cashier, whose disbelief was even more pronounced, and I walked out.
The gall of this woman to be so bothered by the fact that she, being in an advanced state of pregnancy, would be required to maintain her distance from a total stranger during a raging pandemic is baffling, but sadly not surprising. The fact that she wanted to put me in my place by asserting that she and her family and all the people in her community were COVID-free told me that she was not altogether here. What made it worse is that she was, in fact, clueless about my COVID status. How did she know that I wasn’t the one carrying the virus and was trying to be responsible by stepping away from her, in her very advanced stage of pregnancy, her toddler child and overweight partner? All of whom, as a unit, by CDC/WHO standard are considered a “vulnerable group,” pun intended!
Instead, she received my action of moving away from them and the cashier’s instruction as an insult to them. Never mind that we are all required to social distance.
Had it even been 2018, I wouldn’t have wanted you this close to me. Lady gwaan yaah!
The bottom line is that people seem to be going crazy. For example, one is not allowed to tell another to pull up their mask over their nose in a public space. You are not allowed to tell them to maintain their distance. There are those whom you must approach gingerly when you insist on them sanitizing their hands. Bottom line, you are not allowed to COVID-protocols-instruct anyone without them wanting to put you in your place and in some cases incite violence. I have heard some sinister stories.
Are people experiencing “COVID madness” or were people just always inherently undisciplined and lacking social responsibility. We could argue this forever – the debate would be never-ending. One person on their twitter post highlighted that the mental strain of COVID was actually worse than the virus itself. If I allow myself to think about this, I am more inclined to agree on the premise that whatever the end result, the mental anguish for everyone, all covid things considered, is insurmountable (loss of job, death, social and physical distancing, self-imposed isolation (and the list goes on).
Whether we agree or not that human beings lack discipline, the experts postulate that the pandemic has, in fact, caused people’s mental health to be affected in one way or another (this, I have stated in several posts prior) – irritability being a direct consequence. Instead of calling it “madness,” like I have, the World Health Organization (WHO) has informed that that this irritability is due to what is known as “Pandemic Fatigue,” which is the “demotivation to follow recommended protective behaviours, emerging gradually over time, and affected by several emotions, experiences and perceptions”. They also declare that this is a natural response to a prolonged global health crisis, which often manifest in an unwillingness to follow guidelines and recommendations[1].
Well, there you have it!!!
Additionally, a recent study conducted in the USA reported significant poor mental health outcomes as a direct result of the pandemic. The study further shares that “during the pandemic, about 4 in 10 adults in the U.S. have reported symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorder, a share that has been largely consistent, up from one in ten adults who reported these symptoms from January to June 2019” (Panchal, et al 2021)[2]. The different studies of groups and experts agree that the outcomes are often shown in behavioural changes.
It seems the experts do agree (like the twitter user) that the mental strain is just as significant a challenge.
Clearly, I have no idea this family’s real reason for not wanting to social distance nor do I understand why a person would want to fight another for politely asking that masks are properly worn. What is clear to me, from a layman’s perspective, is that things, times and people are not “normal” …. Everyone is feeling the pandemic fatigue on some level.
Even with what the experts are saying I am still wondering, are some people using this pandemic as an excuse to show who they really are at the core or are people’s response (or the lack thereof) to these protocols as a result of them being over it and genuinely frustrated?!
Whatever the level of pandemic fatigue that we each may be experiencing, I encourage us all to…..TAKE A STEP BACK!!!
[1] https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/335820/WHO-EURO-2020-1160-40906-55390-eng.pdf
[2] https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/the-implications-of-covid-19-for-mental-health-and-substance-use/
PARENTING, ADVOCACY AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN 