"Penny tested positive for COVID. Another Paxlovid relapse."
Text message from my sister's husband
Just like Joe Biden.
Apparently the wonder drug Paxlovid does a great job controlling COVID symptoms. The drug is so effective at attacking the virus that the body doesn't develop the antibodies that would give them immunity from a recurrence.
Biden got COVID, was given Paxlovid, and then got COVID again. So did my sister, Penny, at about the same times as Biden. My sister had planned to go to the beach with friends. She feels great. She is testing positive and she is frustrated she needs to isolate from others.
We talked by phone. It went something like this:
Penny: "The bad part is getting it again.This second time feels unfair. I want to blame somebody.
Me: "Blame Biden. Doesn't the president gets the credit or blame for everything?"
Penny: "No. I decided to focus my frustration with intention. I want to be angry where it aligns with my feelings. I blame Ted Cruz."
Me: "Blame him for your COVID recurrence? You don't really mean this."
Penny: "Things don't 'just happen.' Or maybe they do, but it feels better if I can think of a cause, some event or agent. I am trying to think who I may have caught this second round from. Was it shopping at the Albertsons? I don't know. I am stuck in isolation and want to blame something. I decided to decide. Cruz is disgusting so I have decided to say it is Cruz's fault.
Me: "You know this is silly. There is no factual basis."
Penny: "It feels right. It aligns with my politics. It is blame I can use. I haven't liked Ted Cruz for years. The more I repeat to myself that it is Cruz's fault, the righter it feels. When I mentioned this to friends they laughed and said 'why not?' So we all agree.
Me: "You are just ignoring reality and deciding to troll Republicans. You know you sound just like the Trump election deniers, but on the other side."
Penny: "Yes, I do know. And now I realize how emotionally satisfying it is."
8 comments:
Back in the Middle Ages, the Black Plague was often blamed on the Jews, resulting in bloody pograms, genocide, and the destruction of Jewish ghettos across Europe. I suspect having someone to blame (especially a group your local priest had told you carried the responsibility for deicide) was emotionally satisfying then as well. Although the potential absence of Ted Cruz from our polity does not cause me much distress, still we must control our less rational impulses. That’s what keeps us a civilized society.
Q; Why do people hate Ted Cruz at first acquaintance?
A; It saves time.
"I probably like Ted Cruz more than anyone else in the Senate, and I hate Ted Cruz"
Al Franken, former Minnesota Senator
Your sister would probably test out as F (as opposed to T) on the Myers Briggs personality quiz. People who test as F base their decisions more on emotion; T’s on thought. It’s a spectrum, not a binary.
My response to your sister would be, “I blame Hillary.“ 😀
The problem with golf is the only person you can blame is yourself.
Best to stay factual to the extent possible, and follow first instincts. Biden indeed gets the most blame, after China and the WHO. He promised he’d shut down the virus, then boasted it WAS shut down among the compliant, leaving us with but a pandemic of the unvaccinated. His own ongoing COVID woes are, well, symptomatic of blameworthiness.
What I find telling about Penny's comment is how it reflects our current culture; we have this need to blame somebody, as though we are entitled to a lovely, comfortable life, free of pesky inconveniences. Ray Barfield is a pediatric oncologist and Philosophy professor at Duke, and he thinks deeply and writes about the problem of our mortality and the nature of suffering because a good number of his young patients die from their disease.
He writes "We did not choose to exist and we cannot choose whether or not life ends and death. In between birth and death we find ourselves in having bodies we did not choose, cultures we did not choose, and languages we did not choose. Disease likewise comes upon us without our consent and we are thrown into circumstances over which we have no control"
Perhaps instead of placing blame for something nobody can control, perhaps we might be grateful that a drug was developed that reduced and shortened the symptoms, and might extend our lives a few years. I was thinking that the parents of the little boy in our circle who just succumbed to brain cancer would happily have him trade places with you. Perspective can be useful for all of us.
RE: "The drug is so effective at attacking the virus that the body doesn't develop the antibodies that would give them immunity from a recurrence."
It would have been nice if the media could provide this type of information regularly. It's as effective as what chicken soup does for the common cold. Let's hear more about what prevents COVID from afflicting someone.
I sit here with my wife wondering, why we have not contracted COVID. Yes, we are fully vax'ed and boosted. We've been to the hotspots - crowds in France, Germany, Greece, Croatia, Disneyworld, airports, trains, shopping malls, grocery stores, meeting rooms, restaurants, potlucks, etc.
We've got more trips planned in the coming weeks, and we will continue to take precautions which at present seem to only be making sure we wash our hands regularly. We know that masks prevent our ejections from sneezing or coughing help to protect us from affecting others. No way are they filtering the virus when we inhale. Yes we always masked up when asked or required, but it's been months since we regularly wore them.
We've discussed this with our doctor asking about the studies done over the last two years. With literally millions or billions of data points, medical professionals still have no conclusions, and we still don't understand why some are more susceptible while others are not.
The last thing we want to have happen is landing in some foreign land, and then discovering we finally test positive. We've tested 25+ times using antigen and PCR. All negative. We've survived daily testing on cruise ships.
Only thing I might consider is those frequent Fireball birdie shots while playing golf.
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