I swear, every time I stand back and look at a thing from a different angle for a few minutes, DING!- an email comes in from diabolical discussing the exact thing I was thinking about. GIVE ME BACK MY BRAIN, KAIN.
Seriously, though, this is so spot on. And I'm guilty of bad behavior in this instance just as much as the next guy. But I spent the weekend seeing family in the easiest of targets, Florida. Had a whole lot I was going to say to some folks if the subject came up, but when it did I opted for the calm informational route instead of the "stop being an idiot" route and it actually made a difference.
Anyway, thanks for being a voice of reason in a sea of spitefulness, or whatever mixed metaphor applies.
Haha I will *not* give back your brain. You think I write about zombie shows by coincidence?
Cool about your Florida family. I really do think just talking to people like people, turning off all the noise and BS can make a difference, even if it takes time.
You're definitely right about the problem of partisanship and getting the message across. How many blue checkmarks that support vaccination today were vehemently against it prior to Biden being elected. Too many.
Trust has a huge role to play on Issues concerning medical treatment. Merely labeling the unvaccinated as “anti-vaxxed” while technically correct, possibly ignores the underlying reasons causing the vaccine hesitancy. Black and Latino communities have some pretty good reasons to distrust what those in authority say to them.
1000% with you until you used the "Karen" slur. Please don't. Not only is it hate speech (that has increasingly escalated into violence) but it's misogynistic, ageist and, oh yes--racist. You're a writer, please use your words. Thank you.
I think referring to large swaths of unvaccinated people as “anti-vaxxers” or “anti-science” was very disingenuous to begin with. Haven’t seen you do that and really liked the article but I think it’s important to talk about how this became weirdly polarized like everything else and I like that you went over how nothing about this rollout has been normal.
I’m not vaccinated yet but I think the “yet” is an important operating word. I’m hesitant to jump on the mRNA train given the lack of any long term study. It’s new and experimental technology though the FDA finally signing off on it does have me considering it more, since at least if things do go poorly, someone can be held liable.
I’ve held off and waited for a vaccine not yet available to me in the states called Covaxin, no mRNA stuff, just a regular dead virus inoculation (like the flu vaccine that I also get.) I’m up to date on the rest of my vaccines and don’t think twice about it. If this option was available to me, I’d make an appointment same day since to me, the chance of downsides would be the same as the chance of me having serious issues with the flu vaccine (which I estimate to be quite miniscule.) I’m still hoping it gets approved for use in the US relatively soon.
So it just seems odd to cast people like me as “anti-vaxx,” as if I’m opposed to the polio vaccine or something, but it seems to make people feel good. The reaction to all of this has been so odd to me.
This is such a great point and something that I think I may have to follow-up with in a separate post. I did consider not using the phrase "anti-vaxxers" so much in this post but did so anyways just as short-hand really. But you bring up what I think a lot of people are feeling, that this is all very new and it makes people understandably nervous, even people who gladly get flu shots and all the other shots that have been around a long time.
And I get that you’re using that as a short hand. The phrase “anti-vaxxer,” has just grown ridiculously out of control to encompass more and more people as it becomes another us vs them mentality.
I was actually nervous to even comment given how contentious all this has gotten but I wanted to provide a more moderate perspective that I feel has been lacking. Partially to show that some people still holding off for now are reading your articles and weighing options.
1. Native Americans are at or near the top when it comes to vaccination rates.
2. Absolutely we should pay people to get the vaccine.
3. I don’t think I know any anti-vaxers. And if I do I’m not sure I want to. What is someone like me supposed to do when faced with anti-vax delusion all over media - social and other? Who am I supposed to converse with? You’re absolutely right, few minds are being changed by social media. That’s my only outlet. Meaning, I stand around with my neighbors and we all say, yup - I’m vaccinated. Me too. And then that’s it for vaccine convos
When you read about physical and verbal confrontations regarding vaccines and masks it’s always, 100% of the time instigated and perpetrated by the anti-science crowd. I’m tired of them. So, yes. I am guilty of being snarky on social media about it.
You know, many many many of them listen to “Dr” Tenpenny. She’s convinced an incalculable number that the vaccine causes people to become magnetic. She has convinced people that mask rules are akin to the Holocaust. She has convinced them that the vaccine interfaces with 5G towers. I have a hard time blaming people for being fed up with these delusions. And the delusions are killing the rest of us and preventing a return to normalcy. Sometimes a little mockery is healthy for both sides.
Yeah as for Native Americans I think it was and has been a struggle for those communities during all of this which such egregiously high rates of death on the reservations (whole families wiped out in the blink of an eye) that they were pretty eager for a vaccine. I guess I lump them in here because they have (understandably) a great distrust of government in general, and so do many minority communities.
As for being fed up, I totally get that also. I really do. I can't take any of that shit seriously, not even seriously enough to write about it because I know that those people won't read it anyways and won't care, so whatever I have to say will just fall on deaf ears, but maybe if I say "let's focus our efforts on pushing for policies like paying people to get vaccinated instead of just mocking people on Twitter" that people might listen to that.
I don't know this Dr Tenpenny lady but she sounds like a real hack. And don't get me wrong, I'm 100% fine with people taking shots at public figures, pundits etc. My point here is that a lot of people, just normal ordinary people, are really nervous about the vaccine and we can talk to them like human beings and maybe nudge them to the light.
I swear, every time I stand back and look at a thing from a different angle for a few minutes, DING!- an email comes in from diabolical discussing the exact thing I was thinking about. GIVE ME BACK MY BRAIN, KAIN.
Seriously, though, this is so spot on. And I'm guilty of bad behavior in this instance just as much as the next guy. But I spent the weekend seeing family in the easiest of targets, Florida. Had a whole lot I was going to say to some folks if the subject came up, but when it did I opted for the calm informational route instead of the "stop being an idiot" route and it actually made a difference.
Anyway, thanks for being a voice of reason in a sea of spitefulness, or whatever mixed metaphor applies.
Haha I will *not* give back your brain. You think I write about zombie shows by coincidence?
Cool about your Florida family. I really do think just talking to people like people, turning off all the noise and BS can make a difference, even if it takes time.
Thanks!
You're definitely right about the problem of partisanship and getting the message across. How many blue checkmarks that support vaccination today were vehemently against it prior to Biden being elected. Too many.
Trust has a huge role to play on Issues concerning medical treatment. Merely labeling the unvaccinated as “anti-vaxxed” while technically correct, possibly ignores the underlying reasons causing the vaccine hesitancy. Black and Latino communities have some pretty good reasons to distrust what those in authority say to them.
Absolutely. Trust is huge and there's not much of it to go around these days.
1000% with you until you used the "Karen" slur. Please don't. Not only is it hate speech (that has increasingly escalated into violence) but it's misogynistic, ageist and, oh yes--racist. You're a writer, please use your words. Thank you.
Hey look, if you can't tell the irony of that line in this post than I can't help you. Read it again.
I really hope this is a joke. Elevating "Karen" to the same level as a racial epithet shows an astounding lack of awareness.
I think referring to large swaths of unvaccinated people as “anti-vaxxers” or “anti-science” was very disingenuous to begin with. Haven’t seen you do that and really liked the article but I think it’s important to talk about how this became weirdly polarized like everything else and I like that you went over how nothing about this rollout has been normal.
I’m not vaccinated yet but I think the “yet” is an important operating word. I’m hesitant to jump on the mRNA train given the lack of any long term study. It’s new and experimental technology though the FDA finally signing off on it does have me considering it more, since at least if things do go poorly, someone can be held liable.
I’ve held off and waited for a vaccine not yet available to me in the states called Covaxin, no mRNA stuff, just a regular dead virus inoculation (like the flu vaccine that I also get.) I’m up to date on the rest of my vaccines and don’t think twice about it. If this option was available to me, I’d make an appointment same day since to me, the chance of downsides would be the same as the chance of me having serious issues with the flu vaccine (which I estimate to be quite miniscule.) I’m still hoping it gets approved for use in the US relatively soon.
So it just seems odd to cast people like me as “anti-vaxx,” as if I’m opposed to the polio vaccine or something, but it seems to make people feel good. The reaction to all of this has been so odd to me.
This is such a great point and something that I think I may have to follow-up with in a separate post. I did consider not using the phrase "anti-vaxxers" so much in this post but did so anyways just as short-hand really. But you bring up what I think a lot of people are feeling, that this is all very new and it makes people understandably nervous, even people who gladly get flu shots and all the other shots that have been around a long time.
And I get that you’re using that as a short hand. The phrase “anti-vaxxer,” has just grown ridiculously out of control to encompass more and more people as it becomes another us vs them mentality.
I was actually nervous to even comment given how contentious all this has gotten but I wanted to provide a more moderate perspective that I feel has been lacking. Partially to show that some people still holding off for now are reading your articles and weighing options.
1. Native Americans are at or near the top when it comes to vaccination rates.
2. Absolutely we should pay people to get the vaccine.
3. I don’t think I know any anti-vaxers. And if I do I’m not sure I want to. What is someone like me supposed to do when faced with anti-vax delusion all over media - social and other? Who am I supposed to converse with? You’re absolutely right, few minds are being changed by social media. That’s my only outlet. Meaning, I stand around with my neighbors and we all say, yup - I’m vaccinated. Me too. And then that’s it for vaccine convos
When you read about physical and verbal confrontations regarding vaccines and masks it’s always, 100% of the time instigated and perpetrated by the anti-science crowd. I’m tired of them. So, yes. I am guilty of being snarky on social media about it.
You know, many many many of them listen to “Dr” Tenpenny. She’s convinced an incalculable number that the vaccine causes people to become magnetic. She has convinced people that mask rules are akin to the Holocaust. She has convinced them that the vaccine interfaces with 5G towers. I have a hard time blaming people for being fed up with these delusions. And the delusions are killing the rest of us and preventing a return to normalcy. Sometimes a little mockery is healthy for both sides.
Yeah as for Native Americans I think it was and has been a struggle for those communities during all of this which such egregiously high rates of death on the reservations (whole families wiped out in the blink of an eye) that they were pretty eager for a vaccine. I guess I lump them in here because they have (understandably) a great distrust of government in general, and so do many minority communities.
As for being fed up, I totally get that also. I really do. I can't take any of that shit seriously, not even seriously enough to write about it because I know that those people won't read it anyways and won't care, so whatever I have to say will just fall on deaf ears, but maybe if I say "let's focus our efforts on pushing for policies like paying people to get vaccinated instead of just mocking people on Twitter" that people might listen to that.
I don't know this Dr Tenpenny lady but she sounds like a real hack. And don't get me wrong, I'm 100% fine with people taking shots at public figures, pundits etc. My point here is that a lot of people, just normal ordinary people, are really nervous about the vaccine and we can talk to them like human beings and maybe nudge them to the light.
Ten penny is mainstream. We live in the dumbest timeline.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/06/09/sherri-tenpenny-magnetized-vaccine-ohio/%3FoutputType%3Damp
Well that's for sure.
Uh, forgive the typos.