The Frog in the Cooking Pot

 

January 11, 2024

 

 

Somebody was complaining today that her company was mandating masks again because of a COVID surge. Naturally, that led to complaints of overreach, etc. among her friends and family.

 

It reminded me of the saying about frogs and boiling water: If you put a frog in water and gradually turn up the temperature, the frog will stay in the water and boil to death.

 

But in this case the frog isn’t the case of reluctant mask-wearers gradually being worn down into submission to government mandates. It’s the people who have grown so accustomed to catching the flu, and to other people dying from it, that they won’t jump out of the boiling water, even when somebody builds them a ramp—the masks, in case I’m being too cryptic.

 

Take the lifeline, folks. It’s simple, it’s effective, it’s cheap…

 

Or you can keep getting sick and exposing other people and getting them sick, too (because you have sick days available, but you don’t want to get behind, or appear weak, or like a slacker), because it’s what you’ve always done.

 

Jump out of the water.

 

Maybe I Made Her Mad

 

December 28, 2023

 

After I got COVID, I became extremely sensitive to allergens, even things that I couldn’t smell. The woman who works next to me was well aware of this, because I kept coughing REALLY HARD, and kept assuring her that it was being allergic to scents, not illness, that made me do it.

 

Today she gave me my Christmas present: A huge scented candle.

 

I wonder if she’s trying to tell me something.

 

 

 

The Canary in the Coal Mine

 

December 15, 2023

 

I had no idea that my deodorant was trying to kill me. Until I got COVID, that is.

 

I had a very mild case of COVID, and afterward I got the infamous COVID cough. It was frequent and ferocious. The funny thing was, about 6 weeks after I had COVID, I worked outdoors for about 2 hours with nary a cough; but when I went up to another volunteer to talk with her, I immediately started up again. At that point, I realized that it was because I was way more sensitive to allergens than I had been; so people wearing even the mildest scents, things that I couldn’t even smell, would set me off. But sometimes I coughed even when nobody else was around; that’s when I realized that my powder-fresh deodorant was a health menace. I’ve switched to unscented, and am doing much better.

 

So, I guess I owe COVID a debt of gratitude. Until I had it, I had no idea how dangerous the world is. I can’t make other people stop doing what they do, allergen-wise, but at least I can cut down on the things in my own house that can take me out.