I think it’s a safe assumption that all of us care, at least to some degree, what others think of us.

It’s why we spend so much on clothes, or hairstyles or the car we drive around that’s really just something that gets us from here to there. We feel we have to have a specific sports shoe or post pictures on social media that reinforce the image we desperately want, so the world will think of us what we want them to think of us.

God, we’re a mess.

There are some of us who insist we don’t care what others think of us or, better yet, that they need to demonstrate that they’re superior human beings and that the rules, common sense and science don’t apply to them.

They just know better.

And it’s a powerful belief. So powerful that it helped extend our COVID-19 pandemic way beyond how long it would have run had everyone able to get the vaccine would have taken the shot.

I’m just imagining someone from the 1940s being transported to the future and finding themselves in 2021 as we continue battling this pandemic.

GUY: Wow, the world is an amazing place.

ME: Well, yeah, it is. I mean, just in the last ten years, the technology breakthroughs have been amazing.

GUY: What’s that over there?

ME: Oh, it’s a robot that vacuums our floors for us. We also have phones we carry around with us, that double as a camera and that connect us to the Internet where ever we go.

GUY: The Inter what?

ME: Oh, never mind. But as amazing all of our technology is, we’re actually battling one of the worst pandemics in the history of the earth.

GUY: Wowsers!

ME: Did people really say that back then?

GUY: Not really. But you’re writing this. Well, hopefully it won’t be long until they come up with a vaccine.

ME: Oh, they already have one.

GUY: What? You mean, something that cures it?

ME: No, but it helps prevent people who catch the virus from getting worse and keeps you out of the hospital.

GUY: So, I suppose they don’t have enough for everyone?

ME: Oh, they do. But the vaccine became political last year.

GUY: Wait, wait. So, they have a vaccine that works and people are intentionally not getting it?

ME: Yep. Some say it’s because they don’t know what’s in there. Not that it’s ever stopped them from eating a hot dog. Others think tracking devices are embedded in the vaccine. There are even some who say that it will make you magnetic. I’ve got a niece whose doctor told her not to take it if she’s planning to have more kids. Oh, and others say they won’t get it because it’s against their rights.

GUY: Well, if it were me, I’d at least wear a mask

ME: But there are some who say that wearing a mask violates their rights.

GUY: What about people having a right not to get the virus? Especially when they know how to prevent it. You know, I think I’m going to go another 50 years in the future and see how this all turns out.

ME: Oh, I can tell you. The people who use the science will be here. Those who think they know more are taking their chances and could end up not being around. And we don’t know the long-term effects of what COVID does to the body. There are some battling symptoms months after initially catching it.

GUY: So, this is becoming like a natural selection thing.

ME: Yup. Like the caveman who went outside because it wasn’t fair that the T-Rex was forcing him to stay inside. Or the scuba diver who went in the water without a mask, because it violated his rights. You can’t save stupid.

GUY: You know, I think I’m going to head back now. You know, back then, all we had to worry about was World War II.

ME: Nice talking with you.

GUY: I can’t believe they can avoid it, but choose to get it.

ME: If we ever figure that one out, I’ll let you know.

Actually, we have figured it out. When President Trump said the virus was no big deal, that this was all just going to magically disappear, how he spent the last year of his term mocking Dr. Fauci and the science, when he downplayed the significance of the vaccine, caught COVID and still got the vaccine, but didn’t encourage his followers to get it, he ended up with full credit for mishandling one of the biggest attacks ever on our species.

Not to mention the deal he struck with the Taliban where 5,000 prisoners were released last year (gee, what do you think they were doing last week?).

And then, on Inauguration Day, inciting a riot at the Capitol Building to try and overturn the election verification process.

He basically was torching the country on his way out. 

If you’re a Trump fan (and I know quite a few), I’m sorry. Not for what I said, but what history will bear out over time.  History is the final judge and I promise you, it won’t be pretty.

There’s the old joke about the heavy rains that resulted in flooding. A man was standing on the roof of his house when a guy in a rowboat came by and yelled, “Hop in!” The guy responded, “That’s OK. God will save me.”  Shortly afterwards, a guy on a jet ski came by as the water kept rising. The guy yelled, “Hop on!” and once again, he responded, “No, God will save me.”

Finally a helicopter flew overhead, dropped down a rope and he yelled up at the chopper, “No thanks. God will save me!”

Well, the water kept rising and the man drowned. 

When he got to heaven, he saw God and said, “Hey! How come you didn’t save me?”

God replied, “I tried. I sent a boat, I sent a jet ski and a helicopter!”

This quote I saw on Facebook sums it all up: “What doesn’t kill you morphs and then comes back to try again.”  As long as we keep allowing the virus to developed new strains, we’re going to stay right where we are. And people 50 years in the future will look back and wonder what the hell we were thinking.

Get the vaccine so we can argue about all this in the future. However, if you stick by your guns insisting it’s not for you, you can’t say that you didn’t at least have a chance. Actually, it’s possible you may not be around to say that.

And, by the way, you’re an idiot.

Tim Hunter