FINDING COMMON GROUND

 POST #476

I debated back and forth on what to talk about for my final post for October.  There is no shortage of topics to cover, however nowadays we can't get through a day without the word Covid raising its ugly head.

This blog is primarily focused on house and pet sitting, so one might ask why I would want to talk about Covid today?

Here's the main reason for me.  In recent times, it appears that society is now becoming divided on the lines of the jabbed versus the un-jabbed.  As if there weren't enough issues already to divide us, we now have this elephant in the room. Finding  common ground seems to be more and more difficult to do these days.

On a more personal note, I have had communications with friends and family regarding this issue, as I fall into the unjabbed class, unlike all of them.  Or is it now the unwashed class?  I'm not so sure.  

Not only in my personal life, I am also seeing it in the house sitting business.  Recent ads posted on the website I use to find my next sit, are now adding the caveat that the applicant must have proof of vaccination.  Obviously, for those particular ads, I may as well not waste my time in applying.  In addition to that, I have had a few recent cancellations once the owner finds out my status.  I do find this rather curious though.  Logic would suggest, that if the vaccines were so safe and effective, then the vaccinated individual shouldn't have any concern about the unvaccinated.  If you're protected, then what's the problem?

In one respect, I find this totally understandable.  After all, for the better part of two years, we have been bombarded with only one side of this story.  And it doesn't seem to matter which media you choose.   There certainly is another side to the story, and the magazine featured above did a very good job recently of covering that side.  There are plenty of very qualified people around the world that are speaking out about their concerns regarding these shots, and I and many others are more than convinced that not getting the jab is the sensible choice.  But we are now the outcasts in this society, and even though I can see the tide shifting ever so slightly, it appears that this Covid vaccine steam roller is just going to continue rolling over any narrative that doesn't fit.  With mask mandates back in place, and vaccine passports just two days away, it appears that the agenda continues, full steam ahead.   And now they're talking about 5 to 11 year olds as the next in line for the jab.  This truly seems like madness to me.

But this is the crazy world we live in, here in late October of 2021.  Aside from writing this blog today, in order to get this off of my chest, there is really nothing else that I can do to shift the debate, or to change people's minds.  Besides, that's not for me to do anyway.  People have to make up their own minds on a variety of matters on a daily basis, and this is just one more of those issues to make a decision on.

So fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your point of view, I will have to continue down this path.  It has caused friction and separation with some, but at the same time there has been a upside with others.  

The bottom line?  In spite of it all, I am still here, able to spend another day on planet earth.  Each day seems even more precious than the last one.  And in this current world, that  says a lot.  If one takes the time to notice, there is always something marvelous to appreciate.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer