I'm Getting Mad

By the end of what Cam had labeled as Day 8 of our self imposed quarantine I was mad.  It wasn't because of having to spend our time social distancing or because we could no longer go out to dinner.    In fact I have enjoyed hanging out with Cam, Meg, Cal and Doug.  We have had fun watching movies, working on puzzles, playing games and trying Doug's new dishes.  Since I had been following the Coronavirus news long before this past week, I knew to plan and not panic.  I had bought enough supplies to last us for two weeks in case any of us had gotten sick and I had thorougly cleaned the house.  I had listened to Governor Cumo, the President, the Vice-President and leaders in the healthcare system speak.  I believed that they knew what was best for our country.  I did not second guess their decision, but followed the rules and prayed that it would all come to an end soon.  Thus, I wasn't angry to be in this situation as I had prepared for these days several weeks ago.

What I am mad about is that others are not following the recommeded protocal to keep the virus from spreading as quickly as it had in Italy.  They aren't following the rules and therefore putting more people in danger.  We have been told to go outside and get fresh air.  I thought that was a great idea until I realized that others were using this excuse to hang out with their friends and ignore the social distancing recommendations.  While I was feeding the birds today I noticed that our neighbors had four separate individuals stop by to see them, hugging with every greeting.  Children from several different families were all out together, running through the neighborhood.  Meg and Cam showed me pictures of their friends on social media hanging out with others without any regard to the three feet separation suggestion.  Even my own father and his friends had ignored the recommendation by playing golf together, even though they were in the group at the highest risk.

I don't understand the decisions that people are making.  The Heinisch children have had their lives thrown upside down by a virus that probably wouldn't cause much of an issue if they were diagnosed with it.  Cal left his spring break trip early to come home before travel bans were imposed.  He and Meg found out that their school year at IU had come to an abrupt end.  Meg wouldn't have the birthday celebration that she wanted.  Cam had played his last round of golf on Tuesday knowing that it was best for him to stay home to help flatten the curve.  Brett had been taking his temperature daily for the past two weeks to ensure that he did not bring the disease to those that he cared about at his work.  Doug had had multiple teleconferences this week to better understand the effect of the Coronavirus on business industries.  He was also the only in the our house going to the grocery as to help reduce our exposure.  If we can do all of this and give up our social life outside of the Heinisch home, then everyone else can as well.  Flattening the curve doesn't really work if only a handful of us follow the rules.