EDITORIAL: A time for understanding
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To say that we are living in stressful times would be the understatement of the century.
Let’s hope the looming holiday season allows people to sit back and take a breather.
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We have learned so much about COVID-19 and things have thankfully turned out to be nowhere near as bad as many first feared.
But in some respects, things are now worse than they were during the first wave.
It has taken months for the economic toll to finally set in. More businesses are closing by the day.
While we had a reprieve during the summer, many beloved activities and hobbies have been on hold since March.
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Our passions are unique. Different people have different things that get them out of bed in the morning.
If you live for golf, you were likely able to get close to a full season of play in this year.
But if your passion is, say, watching music shows indoors, you’ve probably been flat out of luck.
Politicians and public health officials make staying at home and doing nothing sound so easy. It’s not. It sucks the life out of the human experience.
Now they’re angling to do it again for the holiday season. This is the time of year that is mostly about family.
It’s Christmas for the kids. It’s an important Christian holiday. It’s a big time of the year for other religions as well.
Instead of flat-out trying to ban the holidays, officials should have discussed creative ways to facilitate safe holiday gatherings.
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If people are willing to fly around the world to see their loved ones — which many have done in past years — then many would also have been OK with self-isolating or getting tested to prepare for a responsible gathering.
The holidays should have been a time for understanding — acknowledging both that COVID-19 does more easily spread in such gatherings and thus can only be celebrated with added protocols in place, but also that these gatherings are vitally important for the human spirit.
Public health officials have squandered an opportunity to offer people a pathway to a much-needed gathering when so many other experiences have been cut off this year.
We need to do better.
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