I have been speaking about the Covid-19 vaccines on the Color of Magic podcast, both my YouTube channels and anywhere else I think people might listen. I wouldn't ask you, my reader/watcher/listener to do anything I wouldn't do myself. Besides, I've been wanting to get the vaccine since it released. My wife and I got our first opportunity to get it last week, and quickly signed up. We're documenting our experience.
Tish was nervous, as many people are. I don't even like being the first person to try the new iPhone. But this is a life or death matter. We're also helping take care of my mother-in-law and wouldn't forgive ourselves if our indecision hurt her. So we headed to our local drugstore. The line for the vaccine (Pfizer by the way) thankfully wasn't that long and was properly social distanced. I'm no fan of needles, but I'm not exaggerating when I say I barely felt it.
They asked us to hang around for about 15 minutes to make sure neither of us had an adverse reaction. My wife is an extreme couponer and never misses a chance to take advantage of a sale, so we did some shopping while we waited. As you may have heard, Texas is one of the many states to lift its mask mandate. Many businesses are still keeping theirs. Even in those buildings, somebody has to take on the task of politely reminding customers. We've all seen the videos and news reports of somebody getting triggered with rage. A Jack-In-the-Box employee got stabbed. It's disconcerting how many among us get stabby at a simple request to wear a piece of cloth. Jumbo Jacks ain't ever been that tasty.
So I understand that even though the drugstore we were in had a mask mandate, nobody approached the lady not wearing one. If she's not wearing a mask, it's doubtful she has had the vaccine or taken any other precautions. I wasn't going to confront her either. Of course she would end up in line next to me and Tish, trying to ring something up in self-checkout. Not only was she much closer than six feet, she was standing closer to me than my wife. She was totally engrossed in whatever transaction she was making. I wanted to signal Tish that we should probably start heading for the exit. But the only one in the store more focused on their reward points than the lady I was trying to get away from was my lovely wife.
We had a laugh over her having missed the whole incident. There's a serious point to be made though. The vaccine is important, but not the shield that ends everything. Since we're still on our first dose, both my wife and I could get the virus before our second appointment in a few weeks. That's happened to quite a few people, and some died.
I'm happy to say other than a little fatigue and some minor arm pain, the effects from Dose 1 were minimal. I'm going to follow up with the aftereffects from Dose 2, the one I'm told really knocks you down. I still prefer it to the alternative. We had the vaccine on a Monday. By that Wednesday I was podcasting and Tish was power shopping with no visible effects. We mentioned this on our Allens Ever After YouTube and got several thumbs down. This is unusual and we're sure it's because of tense feelings about the vaccine. After all, while I take on controversial topics regularly on DLCeasar, Allens Ever After is a family channel. In most cases, a thumbs down on that channel is akin to saying you hate 10-year-olds birthday parties.
That's when I realized we may never go back to completely "normal." Almost everyone has had their lives changed for over a year now. We all have different reactions to that. I'm reminded of just how nonchalant I and other folks who make their living gaming and attending conventions were before. We saw attendees wearing masks and shrugged our collective shoulders. Maybe we had a laugh about it. We behaved this way knowing full well "con crud" was a thing. Just think. Any of us who have attended more than one convention are fully aware that multiple attendees get sick right after. Even armed with that knowledge, most of us didn't really consider even one precaution. I know that I've had the sniffles and still dragged myself to work many times because I didn't want to be viewed as a slacker. Looking back, it's a miracle we haven't been racked by a pandemic before hand.
Please get vaccinated at your earliest opportunity so we can all see a return to paper Magic!
