The heroes’ middle finger

It is no shock that cases of COVID-19 are rising rapidly across many states. Many of these states have been spared the worst of the pandemic until now, but construction of field hospitals, long ambulance rides to distant ICU beds, and the cancellation of elective medical procedures is hinting at dark days ahead. (Well, ok, darker days ahead. Pretty dark right now). And what will happen in those dark days? Once again, there will be “thank you, first responders” and “medical staff are heroes” and the like. We might be back to celebrating Instacart shoppers and grocery store stockers.

But why are health professionals bothering to take care of a bunch of people who won’t follow even the simplest public health measures? After getting a big middle finger from folks who will not stay socially distant, who confuse a mask with an attempt to deny them “freedom,” who attend large gatherings indoors without any precautions…why would any sane person go out of their way to provide aid to these nimrods? They have made the lives of doctors and nurses and first responders both more risky and more stressful. What is more, their actions lead health departments to do things like close restaurants and bars in desperation as the simpler, personal actions are not being followed.

Look, nobody likes this. Aside from bank robbers, none of us like masks. None of us are happy with restrictions on who we can meet and how. It sucks. But if you delight in flaunting the rules most of us are trying to follow, don’t expect a lot of sympathy if you or a loved one is in the hospital. Expect worse if your inaction results in another becoming infected and ends up in the hospital.

Meanwhile be grateful that, so far, admissions forms at hospitals don’t include questions like “Have you worn a mask when near non-household members?”