I wish facebook would come up with a new prompt for members who are on the verge of posting. Maybe something like this:
Joanna (or whatever your name is) have you thought carefully about what you are going to write here?
You don’t need to share anyone’s opinion but what you offer for the entire planet to read should be carefully thought out. You don’t need to try and win a popularity contest, but you should try not to be rude. Don’t you think?
However, as it stands now, “What’s on your mind?” is what we all get. Truly FB doesn’t care what’s on our minds. They want our first sentences to contain some key words the gobots can identify. Then they can file our choices into one of their categories, enter everything, and then move on to the next “post-er”, or should I say, “post-ee”?
With varying daily success, I attempt to keep positive and optimistic. But as a business owner in Mexico I know that getting our population vaccinated is the first step on the road to economic recovery. Vaccination is a Herculean task, but it is more and more urgent every day.
The recovery of our economy is dependent on so many variables and our entire society is going to need more creativity, more flexibility, more determination and more patience than ever before. I am bracing myself because even though this has been a year like no other, politics and jockeying for the most advantageous position has not stopped. As a nation we have not understood the need for cohesiveness.
Tell me, what would have happened during WWII if some of the people decided, “Oh my rights are being trampled. I want my lights to be left on during a blackout, because then I won’t trip or stumble around when I am looking for something. And hey! That shrieking is not a Messerschmitt overheard. All that is fake news.”
That is a bit exaggerated, but let’s look at just three examples concurrent with our 2021 reality:
Mask wearing: Really, what’s the big deal? The masks are somewhat hot and uncomfortable but not that bad. However, many people act as though their basic civil rights have been violated. “This should be MY choice,” they scream.
Social distancing: There’s a bit more acceptance of this but only because it is not too difficult to do. Nonetheless, I was snaking through the COSTCO lineup one day and the security guards were only allowing the card carriers to go inside. Absolutely no companions. As well, not one more person was allowed inside the hallowed halls of consumerism unless someone came out. Again, “MY rights are being denied,” was a common lament.
The Vaccine: It is amazing to me how many people now pretend to be as informed as virologists, epidemiologists, sociologists and psychologists. They have an opinion on every scientific and social nuance associated with “accepting a foreign substance into MY body.” Yet many of these same people drink alcohol, use “recreational” drugs and smoke. The real scientists say our planet needs to achieve “herd immunity” but again, “Why should I believe this,” the anti-vaxers ask.
Politics is running rampant. Whatever happened to “working together for the “greater good”? The PRI and PAN followers hate AMLO and MORENA. But did they do do such a great job during their most recent 4 decades in power? According to OSCD international development reports, Mexican citizens’ quality of life went from bad to worse:
“Mexico ranks above average in civic engagement, but below average in the dimensions of jobs and earnings, subjective well-being, health status, environmental quality, housing, income and wealth, social connections, work-life balance, personal security, and education and skills.”
In other words, lots of complaining and gnashing of teeth, but no consensus that will help to usher in needed changes.
One more point: in Merida, we have been spared much of the organised crime activity that is so destructive and dangerous in other places in Mexico. But without the cooperation of the three levels of government AND the public, I fear we are poised for much worse scenarios.
So, what’s to be done? Starting today how can we all help rather than hinder a turn for the better?
I believe that it is imperative to stop our constant complaining and find some group, a family, or a person in need. We can help and we should. How much you can help and how you can best do so, is between you and your higher self.
But I can emphatically promise you (yes promise you…) that if you become a quiet part of the solution, rather than a loud vocal objector, you will be happier and healthier…
And so will Mexico.
Bonus: Read more about the vaccines at Yucatan Magazine: https://yucatanmagazine.com/coronavirus-vaccine-to-be-available-in-merida-starting-easter-weekend/?fbclid=IwAR1g0441fGP1GxSDWykCm1o5JReEj4pGdGHITFYyhl6WLyXvzuNIPCIwuuQ
CHANGES IN OUR LIVES 
Dear Joanna — Well said! I liked the comparison of attitudes now during the pandemic to that of attitudes during WW2. I think in general, people (in the USA anyway) have a privileged attitude that makes them shocked, SHOCKED! that they can’t have everything they want. I grew up at the end of WW2, partly in Germany and mostly in the USA, so I absolutely KNOW how much I am grateful for the good conditions in life and do not take them for granted. I wish that more people were grateful and not resentful of having to follow a few rules that will get us out of this plague sooner rather than later. You said what needed to be said. Thank you!
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‘Well said. Only by working together will we be ab’le to control this pandemic. What’s so difficult about wearing a mask? Sure, my glasses fog up. Also I have difficulty keeping my glasses in place when wearing a mask with elastic loops around my ears. When this annoys me enough, I’ll make some more with elastic around the back of my head, perhaps with some devise to actually hold my glasses in place. I have noticed that here most people over 60 have figured out how to wear their masks. My grandson, aged 9, manages his competently; it’s that 20 to 60 age group who sometimes have trouble grasping that masks protect other people from them even more than the other way around. We need to look after each other!
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You hit it right on the nail. Stop complaining and demanding….get off your butt and do something good for somebody.
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I am always interested in reading goings-on in different parts of Mexico. They remind me how diverse this country is. As an example, our beach villages have been very lax on both mask-wearing and social distance. It is rare to see both. And, on your third metric (vaccinations), most of my neighbors have told me they have no interest in it.
There may be a good reason for this. Even though Jalisco has been hit heavily with the virus, ouer area has been barely grazed. At least, that is the general impression. Mix a complete distrust of government with no sense of urgency, and I am not surprised that things have perked along as normal here — but with fewer tourists. I suspect that will change this weekend.
The lack of urgency suits my personality. It is one reason I moved here. There is a certain Britishness — a sense of muddling through. And muddle we do.
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I love the picture you snapped. (KN95 never looked so good, and inviting.) 🙂
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Yes I have quite the collection of masks by now. That Frida one is my favourite.
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