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Dear Editor:
There is a saying that “sacrifice comes before success, even in the dictionary.”
Why then, I continually ask myself, are so many Americans unwilling to sacrifice their “need” to continue their regular lifestyles without regard to the loss of nearly a quarter million lives? After all, it is so inconvenient.
I marvel that (pre-COVID) I could dine in a restaurant, yet never saw a person enter who did not have on shoes or shirt. Could that be that the Health Department and the restaurants have mandated that you cannot enter in such a fashion?
I marvel that we are not allowed to light up a smoke on an airplane or in a movie theater (as well as in a restaurant or public building). Could it be that it has been deemed unhealthy and dangerous and we have the freedom to not be endangered by someone else’s invasion of our rights? Could I walk up to someone and blow cigarette smoke in their face, or would that be assault?
I marvel that we must pay taxes. Could it be that paying taxes allows our firefighters, police, schools, roads, etc. to exist? If I don’t want to pay my taxes, why should I have to do so?
Maybe I want to disregard all those mandated rules and laws. After all, this is America, right? I can do whatever I want. I don’t have to obey the speed limit, do I? After all, this is America – why should I have to sacrifice anything?
My point, I am sure, is obvious. I do not want to live in a world with no rules, no laws.
I do NOT enjoy wearing a mask. I do NOT enjoy eliminating social events and staying at arm’s length from beloved family members. I am sick and tired of the whole thing. However, I hope to live a healthy and long life and wish my loved ones to do the same, so I WILL follow the CDC recommendations and the recommendations of every single health care provider in the country – the very few notable exceptions are obvious.
If you have had a family member who is a member of the military who was deployed overseas, then perhaps they have missed a birthday, a Christmas, a Thanksgiving, maybe the birth of a child. They have experienced sacrifice for the good of our country. I am sure that my father-in-law did not enjoy being apart in the Pacific during WWII while his wife and child were in the States. I mean, after all, they should not have been inconvenienced, right?
A vaccine is coming; we know that. Can we not sacrifice our “needs” in this pandemic for a short while longer? How about combining Easter and Thanksgiving in 2021? After all, both are about being thankful – for our redemption and for our families. How about Christmas in July? The retailers won’t mind, they already promote that in their ads!
Please wear your mask. As Nike likes to remind us – JUST DO IT!
Sharon McMahon
Noblesville