So here is me…..being “different”” again. The biggest news of the moment……..there is a vaccine for this dreaded COVID plague!!
Before I impart my words of INCREDIBLE wisdom on you lot, I just need to mention that as a rule, I post a blog twice a week. Why? Well when I was researching monetizing a blog, I was informed about finding a ”niche”, ”algorithms”, ”sponsored ads”, ”conversions”, ”affiliate marketing”, marketing to create awareness of “my brand” etc etc. So, of course….plug pulled on plan!! I would just write for therapy…and at the most, be lucky enough to be writing for some followers who would enjoy my posts. I thought. The one thing I do recall though, is learning that one needs to post consistently, so that your followers know, and can rely on the fact that there will be regular posts at regular intervals.
Now that, for some reason, I implemented. However, as much as it goes against my nature….it actually pains me, I kid you not……I am posting on an unscheduled day. I am taking the daunting step of not following my routine (ouch…ouch…ouch), and boldly going where I have never been before…..yes, I can do this!!
The reason I need to do this, is because I am dealing with a very current topic. Hence, if I schedule this blog for a later date (as I have a few scheduled blogs to be posted in advance already), the topic might not be as current. Of course I could just reschedule what has already been scheduled, and post this here blog sooner, but that just seems like too much admin!!
So, back to the actual blog content…..
You might be classified as a ‘’newsmonger’’ , or one of many that are obsessed with the mass media…as in flick through local news channels, CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera, ESPN and aggressively search for bad tidings on social media such as Facebook, Twitter, What’s App groups, podcasts, neighborhood What’s App groups etc. THEN YOU ARE THE PEOPLE I TRY TO AVOID AT ALL COSTS! This is less about you and more about me. I do not believe in causing myself unnecessary anxiety. I find PLENTY things to be anxious about, thanks a bunch!!!
Sure, one should be fully informed about everything that is happening. But unfortunately, the reputable news and the propaganda and fake news are becoming increasingly conflated. This being so, as we live in a world of ratings, the need to go viral, clickbaits, sensationalism, algorithms…..the list is endless.
So I despise propaganda and fake news, and what it does to me, but also to us as a society. The only way I can avoid it in this day and age, is to consciously steer clear of anything that might alert me to this dribble. Once I hear it, I cannot ”unhear it”, and the wheels of anxiety commence spinning. Whether there was a hush in my head, or a noise in my head, both instantly get the boot, and fear and terror take over.
Avoiding this is something that I have become fairly proficient at. I can scroll through social media, and literally see straight past the posts I find uncomfortable. I can remove myself from a situation or a conversation just moments before I am able to hear what I try so hard to avoid hearing.
I was added to a neighborhood What’ App group a while back, and I literally left the group before even one message had been written on it. I am so stealth like in my endeavours, that only the sharpest are aware of my intentions. The problem with this is that some people need a bit more of a subtle hint about my need to stay uninformed, and others need TO HEAR IT LOUD AND CLEAR!!
I am totally aware that some might find that this is a very self-indulgent and immature attitude, but I, on the other hand, find it very evolved and mature. I am there now….in that place that I know what I can handle, and I know what to steer clear from. This is my nutjob brain, and I know it best. So please, at the very least, respect it, and talk about me amongst yourselves later.
Anyway…..again…..I have moved so far off the topic, I nearly forgot what the topic was. So let me continue…..the COVID vaccine….yes…..I shall proceed….
It was impossible for me, even with my stealth like talent, to avoid the cheers of “Israel have found a vaccine’’, two days after we heard about COVID, to the squawks of “it is just a ploy to chip us’’, to the backtracking of ‘’well Israel hasn’t found a vaccine, but apparently Spain now has’’, to the nervous whispers of ‘’some people who were tested died’’, to the ….obvious….”South Africa will NEVER get it anyway”….to a lot of other talk. So I did the best I could do to block it out!!
Then a few weeks back, we heard that, yes, even in South Africa we will get the vaccine….wow…imagine that???
So, ofcourse, the babbling commenced. The who will, to the when will, to the how will and so on. I on the other hand…..would prefer to be at the back of the queue.
What is this ‘vaccine” they speak of?? Vaccine development is a long and complex process. There are research phases, discovery phases, clinical trials…..and that is only what I as a layman am aware of. Imagine how much more there actually is to the process. But in under a year this pandemic that shut down, paused and then slowed down the entire world, managed to have people produce a vaccine in less than 12 months. Miraculous….
A few days ago, my son, the social butterfly Pepper (poor tortured life he has had to endure in this socially distanced and safe environment), asked if I was going to get vaccinated. My answer was so concise and to the point, that he did not even bother trying to get me to reconsider. He was just as concise and to the point when he mentioned that if I do not get the vaccine, he’s packing his gear and hitting the road. He refuses to live with my Rona psychosis any longer.
So in the midst of the babbling, it seems that of all my friends, only my person and myself have decided to go shopping for camping chairs in the near future, so that we can at least be comfortable while we wait our turn in the back of the line.
Now, for me, I say, you do you. You want it? Get it! You don’t? Don’t!! But if you are sitting in judgement of the people that do not agree with you, stand the hell up, walk away and breathe in…breathe out.
Grumpymummy 