Joan Sheldon
Amadi LovelaceReally getting tired of articles in major newspapers based in the false dichotomy of “immune or lucky” for those of us who’ve managed to avoid #COVID. For almost all of us it’s required burning our lives down to the foundation and becoming hermits or as close as our existences will allow. We’ve lost time with family, we’ve lost income and opportunities, we’ve lost nearly everything in order to keep our lives and whatever health we have. Luck plays no part in it. I wish we were lucky.
WndlB@amaditalks OTOH, it has also been good for figuring out what is essential versus what is optional or readily rearranged. Like family and, say, church for some versus indoor dining, and hardware store runs.
Madison@amaditalks To say "luck plays no part in it" blames those who did all of those things and STILL got COVID for a multitude of reasons (financially needing to work, crowded living situations, other forms of being unlucky). We can acknowledge that luck *does* play a part in who does or doesn't get sick, as well as how sick they get, while also acknowledging the very real and effective prevention measures we have.
@maddramaqueen if you are living in a crowded situation or still going out to work then you haven’t done all of the things that a lot of us have done. We have moved. We have given up our jobs. We have made massive sacrifices of everything that was making us less safe.
@amaditalks Not everyone can *afford* to do those things. People need to eat. People need shelter.
The Purple Chicken@amaditalks @maddramaqueen For some people, the alternative is homelessness, which is an even higher COVID risk. And I speak as someone who is privileged enough to work at home.
J.H.NoyesYeah. You can't just go homeless, you have to go full Amazon dry-goods hermit. Good luck doing that with no money.
tometaxu@maddramaqueen @amaditalks
No blame that i can see. @amaditalks point stands: The *media* are not talking about the sacrifices many are making to avoid Covid. We are invisible on so many radars.
Chris Johnson@amaditalks Huzzah! Truth.
WestCoastCliche@amaditalks It's also a false dichotomy to say that luck has nothing to do with it. Sure, many who got COVID had little choice; they had to work in high-risk jobs where infection was inevitable, or live in crowded conditions. But I was lucky. Most of my family got COVID but I didn't. I took precautions, but I flew (with a mask) and ate in restaurants (often freezing in parklets). I was lucky.
@WestCoastCliche yeah, you were lucky because you were taking risks, on purpose,. I am not talking about people who were behaving the way you were. And that was made clear by what I said.
@amaditalks You wrote "For almost all of us it’s required burning our lives down to the foundation and becoming hermits or as close as our existences will allow." In my experience most folks who escaped COVID didn't do what you did; they were lucky. Sorry for the confusion.
ErosBlog Bacchus has moved!@amaditalks Every damned word of this.
Court Cantrell won't conform@amaditalks The 1x my family & I went unmasked to an indoor party, we ended up with COVID. Unclear if we caught it there, or next day from a friend who was at the same party but might've already been infected. Either way, this was our 1st bout with it & it happened in March 2023.
3 years without COVID wasn't luck. It was vigilance. We let down our guard once & are now paying the consequences. (Husband is over it, but 10yo & I are still fighting secondary infections.)
@courtcan I hope you and your kiddo are better quickly.
@amaditalks Thank you! ❤️
Crafty Gardener NZ@amaditalks For us it hasn't been luck, it's been vigilance. When I was having surgery in hospital two weeks ago, I was in a single hospital room. We opened all the windows, and I kept them open overnight. I didn't get covid.
Idealistic Pragmatist 
@amaditalks what I hear mostly is: “oh, you must have had it, you just didn’t realise it”. 🙄