Principle Of Charity For Athletes?
A couple shows ago, I was all set to not engage in the Principle of Charity when it came to professional athletes and the Covid vaccine. After all, as professional athletes, part of their job is to be healthy. They don’t always live up to that expectation, but, when a vaccine is available that can end the pandemic that shortened and took the fans away from last year’s baseball season, getting the shot should be automatic.
But, athletes are reflecting the same attitudes toward the vaccine as the general public. Some jumped at it, some are hesitant, and some think they’ll be fine without the shot. I don’t know if the percentages of each category break the same way as the general public, but I imagine it’s not all that different.
So, of course, I was miffed at my Sunday night game being postponed due to several of the Hated Yankees testing positive. I missed my Sunday night game, because too many ballplayers were thinking, “I’ll be fine.” That was my assumption.
I have since learned some of the Philadelphia Phillies also tested positive. ARGH! Get the damn shot… However, I have also learned that some of the players with the Covid did get vaccinated. Those would be break through cases. With vaccines that are topping out at about 90% effective, break through cases should not be surprising. This is another reason why we need to get high numbers of people vaccinated. Not only will doing so protect those who can’t or won’t get vaccinated, it will also protect against break through cases. It’s called herd immunity.
So, some players with the Covid had been vaccinated. I guess I should be more charitable toward them. Just not with the Hated Yankees. I can only go so far.
Didi Gregorius Wears It Well
I praised one baseball player in particular for his mask-wearing. He didn’t just wear it in the dugout. He wore it in the field, at the plate, and on base. And he wore the mask properly (mostly). It wasn’t wrapped under his chin or hanging from his ear. His mouth and nose were nearly always completely covered. He rarely pulled the mask down to talk to someone. He wasn’t perfect, but overall he had the mask-wearing down pat.
The player is the Philadelphia Phillies’ shortstop Didi Gregorius. I was impressed with how he got mask-wearing right when so many around him were so haphazard about their masks. However, he does have an added incentive. Gregorius has a chronic kidney condition, so he is extra vulnerable should he get infected by this coronavirus.
Even though the mask is worn more to protect others than the person wearing it, Gregorius set a fine example.
I’ve noticed that Didi has stopped wearing the mask. I assume it’s because he’s received the vaccine. But with cases on the rise again and some of his teammates having break through infections, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him put the mask back on when playing.
Kicking A Hornet’s Nest
I knew I was being provocative when I posed this question (left) on Facebook. I was demonstrating the frustration we who are vaccinated are feeling about those Americans who still remain unvaccinated.
America has only just achieved 50% fully vaccinated. Pres. Biden was hoping we would have reached 70% by July 4th. Most of us were hoping for the same thing. But there is sizable segment of this country’s population that are either hesitant or resistant.
The hesitant might be reachable. It may be possible to get them to get vaccinated if we provide them with answers that will remove their concerns and their hesitancy. I have a high school classmate who was hesitant. He explained that a bad way to try to shift the hesitant is to berate, badger, and belittle them. He was essentially saying you can attract more flies with honey than with vinegar. This is true. However, flies are also attracted to shit and dead bodies. Covid has left a lot of dead bodies in its wake.
But my friend has a point. That approach can tend to get the hesitant to double down and maybe even become resistant.
The hesitant can also become the resistant by listening to the misinformation agents on Fox News and other right wing news outlets. A NewsMax host suggested the vaccine is going against nature, while he was standing in a climate controlled television studio, wearing a suit, hair nicely coifed, face clean shaven, and possibly wearing vision correcting contact lens. You know, going against nature. Tucker Carlson practiced his correlation must mean causation when he asked why the government wasn’t telling us about the thousands of people who had died after getting the shot.
Just because B happened after A, it doesn’t mean A caused B. Two can play the correlation/causation fallacy game. For example: Why doesn’t Tucker tell us about the thousands of people who have died after watching his show? I’m not saying Tucker Carlson’s Conservative Cavalcade of Crap is causing his viewers to die, I’m just asking questions. Hang on. Tucker’s vaccine fearmongering just might be killing his viewers.
Anyway, these misinforming asswipes are adding to the hesitancy and causing resistance to getting the vaccine.
While the hesitant might still see the light, the resistant are pretty much beyond reach. They will maintain their belligerence right to their graves. OK, most will survive if they get the Covid, it still has about a 98.3% survival rate. But, remember, survival just means they didn’t die. There can be lingering side effects that could last for years or even a lifetime. And don’t forget, in America, healthcare is very expensive. A person with Covid might survive the illness, but if they send time in the hospital the financial toll could be quite high. In America, a hospital stay can lead to bankruptcy.
We who are vaxxed don’t want to go back to shutdowns, distance learning for our kids, and masking up. In many areas, the masks are already coming back. Will all the pandemic mandates be coming back? It’s beginning to look like it.
We who are vaxxed are frustrated with you who refuse the shot. If and when the pandemic mandates do come back, we who are vaxxed will blame you. It will be your fault. And we who are vaxxed will be pissed.
Please, get the shot.
My Friend Norman Truman
“Norman is in a coma?!”
That was the text message I received the afternoon of Wednesday, July 28th. It was my friend Dave reaching out to me to let me know a mutual friend and former coworker of ours was in a bad way.
That text started a week of thinking about an old friend, who I hadn’t seen in a long while, but had just recently been texting about an art project he asked me to do. A week that saw an incredible outpouring of concern on social media. A week of looking each day, sometimes each hour, for hopeful information. A week that ended on Wednesday, August 4th with the sad news of Norman’s death.
Norman was a punk rocker of the first order. He was pierced and tattooed all over. He was the first person I had ever known to have face tattoos. He was sweet and kind (although he could agitate in his punk sort of way when in a mood) and he had so many friends. It seems as those Norman knew everybody in Minneapolis. And in the Twin Cities’ Punk scene Norman is a legend.
The shear volume of photos and well wishes and memories that filled Facebook was astounding. So many people knew and loved Norman. So many people were heartbroken by his loss.
There is a rumor that it might have been Covid that took Norman from us. Fourth or fifth hand information said he tested positive for Covid in the hospital, where he was put into a medically induced coma. Norman did have asthma pretty bad, in the 25 years I’ve known him he ended up in emergency rooms many times suffering attacks, and asthma and Covid are a dangerous mix. But, at this point, there has been no confirmation that his death was Covid related. It’s just rumor.
Sadly, knowing the cause won’t bring him back.
About ten years ago, Norman had a new tattoo etched around the crown of his head. It was his motto, his creed: Punk Forever, Forever Punk.
He lived up to his creed.
Goodbye, Norman.
The ad breaks for this show were in honor of my friend. I don’t know if Norman liked all of these songs, but they all reflect his Punkness.
Go back to wearing a mask. GET VACCINATED!
Dimland Radio opening theme song: Ram by The Yoleus
First ad break bumpers: Customer by The Replacements, Makes No Sense At All by Husker Du, I Remember By Naked Raygun, Driving The Dynamite Truck by Breaking Circus, Institutionalized by Suicidal Tendencies, Jordan Minnesota by Big Black, Rattlesnake by The Replacements, She’s In Parties by Bauhaus, Somebody Got Murdered by The Clash, and New Day Rising by Husker Du
Second ad break bumpers: Ace Of Spades by Motorhead, Dark Entries by Bauhaus, God Damn Job by The Replacements, Should I Stay Or Should I Go by The Clash, My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down (Bonzo Goes To Bitburg) by Ramones, Peek-A-Boo by Siouxsie & the Banshees, Run It by The Replacements, Kerosene by Big Black, Psycho Therapy by Ramones, and Something I Learned Today by Husker Du
Closing song: Angler’s Treble Hook by $5 Fiddle
That’s it! See you next Saturday night for Dimland Radio 11 Central, midnight Eastern on www.ztalkradio.com you can also download my show from the z talk show archives page. You can email your questions and comments to drdim@dimland.com
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