NEW YORK — Everybody’s trying to be so safe during the coronavirus pandemic.
We’re not seeing family and friends. We’re not gathering in large groups. We’re being careful about whom we see and how often.
We’re all doing our bit for the greater public good, right?
Please.
One of the things that people have done during the pandemic is form these little “pods” with family members and/or friends.
We pledge that we’ll only see this defined and finite number of people, our pod mates. And we trust that our fellow podders will likewise limit their social interactions to the pod in order to keep us safe.
In theory, there’s nothing wrong with pods. And they sometimes serve a good purpose. Some people form pods in order to share child care, for example. That’s important given how many parents are working from home these days.
But you don’t really know that your pod mates are living up to their end of the bargain, do you? You don’t really know where they’ve been on a day-to-day basis. It’s all based on trust.
But you put any doubts out of your mind. You don’t want to think about it. You don’t want to pop that soap bubble. Because then the whole Jenga tower that you’ve built in your mind will come crashing down.
And let’s be honest. A lot of people, even those who are very worried about infection, have made their own justifications all throughout the pandemic when it comes to being in contact with other people.
It’s just human nature to want to be with other people. We can only be shut up in our homes for so long, particularly people who live alone. We’re social beings. Sooner or later, we want to be with other people.
So we create this imaginary pod world where we can be “safe” and “take precautions” while at the same time also seeing other people.
It’s a chimera. The only way to truly be safe is to totally cut yourself off from everybody outside your own home. And to make sure that everybody in your home also isolates from everyone else. It’s that simple.
How many people out there are doing that? How can we do it? If you have a single essential worker in your home, it’s impossible to cut yourself off from the outside world. The same thing holds true if you have a child going back and forth to school.
I continue to take precautions even though I’m personally not as worried about COVID-19 as other people I know. I’ve gone to church every week ever since we’ve been allowed to do so again. That’s a risk, but it’s one that I justify in my mind because going to Mass is important to the family.
I also continued to gather with friends at a favorite spot every Sunday throughout the pandemic. It’s a risk, but one I’ve justified in my mind. Gov. Andrew Cuomo put an end to that, however, with the indoor dining now banned again in New York City.
I’ve heard similar stories from other people as well. They “have” to see their parents. They “have” to see their best friend. Even if they’re worried about infection, they still make allowances.
And there have been conflicts. People see some family members but not others. Some people see their pod mates but won’t visit family members. It doesn’t always make sense.
Here’s my bottom line: We can see other people and still maintain an acceptable level of public safety. We don’t have to shut ourselves totally from each other. So many people are already doing so. And that’s good news.
And, truly, your pod probably isn’t keeping you 100% safe anyway.
(Tom Wrobleski is a columnist for the Staten Island Advance.)
January 07, 2021 at 01:23AM
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Your COVID pod is a joke | Local Columnists | oleantimesherald.com - Olean Times Herald
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