covid-19

Text reads: New year, same old. Background contains a wheelchair moving through an open plan building.

New year, same old

Well, it’s a brand new year and we’re now a good two years into the pandemic with no clear end in sight. During most of this time, I’ve been safely tucked up in my Western Australian bubble, but we’re set to open up to the world in less than a month and things are bound to change.

There’s a big part of me that’s super keen to open up. I want to hug people I haven’t seen in two or more years and see my favourite bands on tour. And I dunno, maybe roam about Salzburg wearing clothes made out of drapes. (Hey, I reference Star Trek and Star Wars a lot around here, so why not throw The Sound of Music into the mix?)

But I’m also aware that no jurisdiction has achieved the holy grail of no internal restrictions, no travel restrictions, a health system that is not overwhelmed and a strong economy. So it then becomes a question of which of those things you consider to be acceptable sacrifices. Different people have different values and priorities, which seems to be the source of most interpersonal conflicts.

I have mates working in the arts and entertainment who lose their income every time there’s a lockdown, capacity limits on venues or restrictions on events.

And I know people who didn’t choose their lot in life but are likely to die if they got COVID… and even if they were complete strangers to me, they’re still people, not just statistics with “underlying conditions”.

So I don’t have all the answers. I don’t know what the right balance might be.

But I do know this: Telling disabled, chronically ill and immunocompromised people that you’re sick of being inconvenienced and that they should just “not go out in public if they’re so scared” – as if they haven’t already been carrying the burden of society’s selfishness this entire time – is not an acceptable sacrifice to me.

If more people came to the same conclusion, maybe we’d get further in building an inclusive and accessible world that benefits everyone. I tend to be quite cynical and sarcastic, but I also want to believe that we can do better and be better than we are.

I’ve titled this post “New year, same old” but I would dearly love to be wrong in a good way.

Text reads: Something something something festive. Background contains glowing baubles, including one decorated with a ribbon.

Something something something festive

Obligatory festive season post coming up, just as mask mandates are reintroduced in Western Australia.

I could say “Merry Christmas” but obviously not everyone celebrates it, myself included. (I don’t care if you say Merry Christmas to me though. Neither does any other non-Christmas celebrator I’ve ever met.)

“Happy Holidays” is a nice catch-all, but not everyone gets holidays or has a happy time during them.

“Season’s greetings” seems to cover it all but feels unnecessarily formal for most occasions.

So I’m going with “Live long and prosper” and “May the Force be with you” – because it is possible to love both Star Trek and Star Wars, and you totally should. 😉

Anyway, it’s been a pretty significant year for me. I published my first novel in November, and while I prefer not to be the centre of attention as a person, I’m proud of that damn book. Hopefully there’s more to come. 🙂

(You can give Black and Blue all the attention in the world, by the way. It is a book – an inanimate object – and therefore does not experience awkwardness or embarrassment.)

Looking towards 2022, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit anxious about the not-too-distant future. I’ll be eligible for my third COVID shot shortly before WA’s borders are set to reopen, but it’s not really my own health I’m worried about. (I’ll get that third jab as soon as I can though, that’s how I roll.)

Meanwhile, I’m still looking for a hand sanitiser sponsorship in the New Year. I don’t drink alcohol, but I’ve been rubbing it on my hands since long before COVID… so come at me, hand sanitiser manufacturers! Yeah, I know it’s extremely unlikely but a girl can dream. 😛

This will probably be my last blog post for 2021 unless something particularly amazing/terrible happens before the end of the year. For now… Live long and prosper and may the Force be with you. And also with you.

Text reads: Choice and consequence. Background contains syringes of different sizes.

Choice and consequence

While I don’t think I’ve ever actually said so until now, it’s not a secret: I’m pro-vax. I think everybody should be vaccinated unless they genuinely can’t for medical reasons.

“But you’re vaccinated, right? So you’re safe, right? Or doesn’t your jibby jab actually work?”

Newsflash: We don’t just get the jab for ourselves, but thanks for confirming the inherent selfishness of anti-vaxxers.

I got vaccinated because I want to do everything I can to protect our community, which includes immunocompromised and vulnerable people. Because I believe “learning to live with the virus” should centre around helping the population reach herd immunity as safely as possible, not a bunch of ableist snotrags deciding who’s expendable.

If you choose not to get vaccinated in Australia, you may be restricted from certain venues and events, or have to find a different job. Inconvenient, but it’s still your choice.

If you choose to equate public health measures with apartheid, segregation or the Holocaust, possible consequences of that include being shunned by people who are rightfully disgusted by the disgusting comparison.

If you choose to spread misinformation about vaccines, either deliberately or because you inexplicably believe your amateur research is valid, possible consequences include being labelled an anti-vaxxer even if you insist you aren’t one.

If I choose to publish this blog post, possible consequences include certain people unfriending/unfollowing me on social media, sending me angry messages or refusing to buy my book. But that’s okay. Because getting vaccinated is bigger than just me.

I’m not being brave or edgy here. I actually had a lot more sympathy for vaccine hesitancy earlier in the year. But months of watching privileged people cry about oppression and wellness warriors act like martyrs is wearing thin. I’m just tired now.

And maybe a bit disappointed at the lack of noticeable improvement in my wi-fi. 😉

TL;DR – please just get vaccinated.

Text reads: Not throwin' away my shot. Background contains 2 gloved hands holding a globe that is wearing a mask.

Not throwin’ away my shot

I have now received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and I feel awesome. 🙂

I’m also happy to have reached the “feeling awesome” stage, because I wasn’t in the days following my second shot.

I got Pfizer, and literally the only side effect I had from the first dose was a sore arm for a day. I was in the gym doing an upper body workout less than 48 hours later. I knew — and was also told by the nurse administering my vaccine — that side effects are more likely to be worse for the second dose of Pfizer. But it was still a bit of a shock to be out of commission for two days and have to call in sick to work. Then for the next few days I was functional but definitely not 100%.

But I’m all good now and I’d do it all again — short-term pain for long-term gain. And I already get the flu shot every year for work, so more jabs in the form of COVID boosters are no big deal to me.

Besides, it would be great to be able to supplement my income by offering additional services as a mobile hotspot. For the right price, I’m also open to walking past someone you don’t like in order to shed the vaccine virus at them. 😉

P.S. In case y’all missed the Hamilton reference in the blog title…

“My Shot” — Hamilton
Text reads: Letter to my long distance love. Background contains the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge at sunset.

Letter to my long distance love

Dear Sydney,

Why you gotta do me like this?!

As of now, there are virtually no COVID-19 restrictions in Perth again. (Though I’m keeping a clean mask in my bag just in case.) But my heart is heavy because there’s a hard interstate border separating us and I don’t know when it might come down.

I love you, Sydney. Well, I love certain people in you. But you’re pretty cool too. Apart from worshipping the worst football code ever invented. 😉

When I was last with you at the beginning of 2020, COVID-19 certainly existed in the world, yet it seemed so far away from us in Australia. Now it’s you that seems a world away. My last attempt to get back to you was thwarted by a lockdown in Perth. Now it’s you that’s in lockdown. 😦

I look at the daily new case numbers, the images of people who seem to be packing beaches and shops for no apparent reason when they’re supposed to be at home, and I wonder when it’ll all end.

And to be honest, I’m mad because it feels like this could’ve been avoided (or at least closer to being resolved by now) had the state not backed itself into an ideological corner — but I digress.

Mostly I’m just sad and I miss you, my darling Sydney. And I really hope to see you again soon. ❤

Love,

Your mate in the wild west.

P.S. I went a bit nuts topping up my Opal card last time so to cut a long story short, I also really need to get to you and ride some trains or something. 😛