COVID Hits Home

In the little town I live in, some folks make it a party town. Women take off work in the afternoons to attend a party; props and decor are flown from India for a theme party; couples shop for matching outfits for ONE party; salons are overcrowded on weekends with hair and nail appointments; people discuss the next party while attending one. FOMO rules here, big time — BIG TIME!

Buy designer masks — if that's the only way you'll wear a mask.

Amid the pandemic too, some have decided to live life — partying in large groups without masks and no social distancing. This has been going on for months, and with each passing month the parties have become more elaborate. Some have shifted indoors, and Facebook is flooded with pictures of a happy time. When I told my mother in India that some people in our community tested positive because they attended themed parties, her response was: "Paagal hain kya ye log?" (Are these people crazy?)

Yes — while millions across the world have died and millions are still fighting for their lives, people in my town still party, on the principle of "work hard, party harder."

First Facebook filled with one group's party pics; gradually the fever — the herd mentality — caught on, and several groups started posting theirs. Yes, the virus is still out there, but hey, COVID-19 is what happens to others. And since the virus doesn't discriminate, some of the partying folks are now COVID-positive, and many await results.

Mea culpa posts are doing their rounds too — yes, you got it, on Facebook. But it would be foolhardy to believe these mean real change, because the comments from their cohorts say it all: "this will be gone soon," "you would have developed antibodies," "we will meet again later," so on, so forth.

My fear is that, since these people have recovered, they'll think they now have antibodies to fight the disease — and once healthy, they'll party again, dancing to "there is no tomorrow" while dressed like the stars of the album.

Years ago, when my oldest was nine, our children used to meet on Wednesdays for dance practice ahead of a party. Just before heading out, I called a friend to ask when she'd arrive. She said she was almost there — and mentioned she'd been sick for the past few days with the flu and had taken Advil for her fever.

I asked her: "Should you be going to the practice then? You know there are kids coming."

Her response: because she couldn't get infected anymore, she was fine. She did not care about anybody else. YES — SHE DID NOT CARE.

I hope you can understand my fear now.

And since the majority just follows, they will influence the town's behavior again. What baffles me most is that many in this group belong to the medical community. They could set a good example, but they choose not to. If one doctor chose to wear a mask at a gathering, I'm sure many would follow. But they do the opposite. On antibodies, the verdict was still unclear at the time — they don't last forever, and not everyone develops them.

Not everyone is lucky, not everyone uses their judgment, not everyone can take a stand. But I'm forever optimistic. So I hope whoever reads this takes one step in the right direction.

Originally published September 2020.