Time to pull together in face of COVID-19
By Lethbridge Herald Opinon on March 14, 2020.
There are times in human history when the larger social or natural forces at play become all-consuming within everyday life. In times of war. In times of economic depression. In times of natural disaster.
There is nothing a government can do when faced with a flood of circumstances which consumes every facet of society, but there is something an individual can do: He or she can choose to make things worse by engaging in behaviours which add to the strife, or he and she can choose to try to help as best as they can in whatever capacity they possess.
With the advent of COVID-19 virus here in Canada, all of us will be subject to increased social strains and pressures. It is very likely we will have a case here in Lethbridge very soon. How will we respond?
At times in our history like this before, we as a society and a community have managed to find ways to come together spiritually and mentally to get through the crisis. In fact, we as a community have faced a far worse pandemic in our past with the 1918 Spanish flu outbreak which killed millions worldwide and hundreds here in our city.
We will get through this current crisis without a doubt. But we will only get through this outbreak in the best way possible by remaining calm, looking out for others less able than ourselves, and by following the advice of medical professionals.
Do not be afraid. Be calm, be resourceful, be caring, and take responsibility for your personal health, and that of your family, by self-quarantining if ill.
And if you know of someone who is ill, who doesn’t have a social support network, and can’t get out, give them a call. Ask if they need anything, and drop a bag of groceries on their doorstep. Such actions will go a long way toward helping to alleviate the social stress we are bound to face in the weeks and months ahead.
Remember to be human, in the best possible sense, despite the surgical masks we may end up having to wear in some cases which will make us appear foreign and strange to each other. We are not strangers. We are a family, and we are a community.
We will get through this together.
11-10
Sounds a lot like much maligned “socialism.”
yeah, no need to pull together when there are those living very very high off the hog, whilst even more struggle miserably to get by, as has been the long standing tradition of humanity. let us be communal only when the lives of the uppermost might be upset. spare me the rubbish.
meanwhile who are the dweebs hoarding all the toilet paper? great examples of why democracy, which looks good on paper, is in fact so dysfunctional. would be an interesting study to determine if these hoarders – these bums that look out for number one (even though in this case they are looking out for number 2) – identify most as liberal, conservative, or social. my guess, foremost con, then lib, then soc.
to get even with the toilet paper hoarders, let us buy up all the toilet plungers.