Waiting for illness

 

   Am I the only one who’s confused? 

   The other day, I had an appointment at my urologist.  When I got there, the waiting room was packed.  For most of the last two years, most of the chairs in the room were removed, to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Now, not only were the chairs back, they were pretty much all full, with people sitting shoulder to shoulder.  Never mind that the Omicron variant is super contagious and cases have been sky-rocketing. 

   I sat out in the main building lobby.  The say the Omicron causes less severe illness, but I don’t want to find out.  Besides, hospitalizations and deaths have been rising lately. 

   My Quaker meeting has gone back on Zoom, sadly, but we seem to be the only local faith community that has.  Are we being too careful?  Meanwhile, K-12 schools and businesses and forging ahead in-person (although the Claremont colleges have gone virtual for the first two weeks – at least – of the Spring semester), although with mask and sometimes vaccine requirements, Omicron be damn. 

   What gives? Is it just that the almighty dollar and our God-given personal liberty trumps – pun very much intended – public health?