Because I am not a fan of writing I have been procrastinating doing so again, but this time I felt obligated. This subject is extremely controversial and in the end I didn’t want to do it, get vaccinated that is, but I took it in the leg*!
This is my story of conversion, of why I changed my mind. In no way is it intended to convince or cast judgement or expectation in any way. It is a most personal matter. This, simply, is my story.
I haven’t had a vaccine since I was a kid and had no intention of starting now. I come from strong stock, European immigrant grandparents on both sides, no strangers to hard work. I stay fit, eat clean, have a positive attitude and maintain healthy relationships…blah blah blah. All the tools for survival, right? Usually maybe, but not in the case of Covid.
Frustration and pressure began to overwhelm me as I listened to both sides of the argument. I always sided with nature because I believe when man intervenes it screws up everything, since all life of any kind is interconnected. I wondered if this pandemic wasn’t natures’ way of doing a “correction”. We have become overpopulated, sick and poverty stricken as a result. We have kept far too many people alive by artificial means for far too long at a time when nature would normally take them. Calloused sounding? Maybe. But I couldn’t get past that.
Finally, I had an idea. A close friend I used to work with as a hairdresser went on to become quite accomplished. She is now a PhD biologist, one of the smartest people I know, next to my PCP. That is not the reason I sought her out. Joyce is also a granola crunching hippie, practically a homesteader living off the land with her husband, also a scientist. A natural gal to the core, she knew both sides of the coin, science vs. nature. So I reached out for her advice, held my breath, and although I had no expectation I was praying she would side with nature. She didn’t. And she assured me it was “bad science” that leads people to believe this will screw up your natural immunity. Crap. Things are changing too fast with this stupid virus. Damn. I STILL don’t want to do it!
Then Joyce told me her personal story of Covid. 45 and vivacious, healthy in body, mind and spirit she lives in rural Georgia. She drove 30 minutes to town for supplies just once a month and gas as needed. Joyce got Covid and was so sick she was unable to work for MONTHS. Not to mention the residual effects.
And there’s Ashley, my client’s daughter-in-law. Same story. Late 30s, super healthy, professional working from home, she barely left the house, having everything delivered. Covid leveled her for WEEKS, rendering her useless. And on and on. Stories like this knocked me off my high horse. I’ve just recovered from major surgery and I sure as hell don’t want to be out of commission again with Covid.
That reason alone, not wanting to be sick myself, sounds pretty selfish. Though I cross paths with relatively few people I do have to consider that I am face to face with many elderly and otherwise compromised people just by the nature of my work as a hairdresser. There is still so much to learn about this virus I was becoming increasingly uneasy about causing harm to others.
So I did it. I got vaccinated, but STILL against my instincts. I don’t want to keep getting boosters as this monster morphs. I’m angry that I had to make this decision at all. And crazy as it may sound, I feel like I have let down my naturalist friends and practitioners by “giving in”. But I sucked it up, put my tail between my legs and took it in the leg!
Peace.
*p.s. I didn’t want in in my right arm because I had a super busy week in the salon and didn’t want to feel like I got punched. And my left arm has some weird residual nerve discomfort from my cervical surgery. Plus it was fun to liven up the vaccination site! No one had ever made such a request and that got them all hopping. Hey, a muscle is a muscle after all. The funniest part is they had to have an RN give it to me for whatever reason. He was a handsome studly dude that kept insisting we had to go to a private area to administer the shot. I finally figured out he thought I had to drop my drawers to get to my thigh. I had leggings on and he didn’t know they were stretchy enough to pull up. No wonder he was so flustered! LMAO.