I have absolutely no respect for people who aren’t adhering to social distancing. This isn’t fun for any of us. I can at least speak for myself when I say I don’t enjoy being stuck around my family for all hours of the day. Just because I’m unhappy, however, doesn’t mean I’m disobeying a literal government order.
Lately, social media has been flooded with approximated statistics that say things like “If x percent of people stay home, the curve will flatten in x weeks, whereas if only x percent stay home it will take this much longer.” For a generation that spends so much time on these platforms, it seems that a lot of us are ignoring them now.
I’ve seen people posting on Instagram pictures of them hanging out with other people out in the woods or going out on picnics six feet apart. Sometimes they’ll meet up in a person’s house, which I just find completely baffling. It’s one thing to meet up outside with a few friends because that’s at least making some effort to acknowledge social distancing. But to go into another person’s house, which is meant to be a safe place in case actual quarantine is needed, just doesn’t make any sense to me. All over Instagram, there are captions saying, “Don’t worry, we social distanced the whole time” but it’s impossible to know how accurate that caption really is.
Having a “small gathering” that’s fewer than 10 people isn’t an example of following these government guidelines, even if it’s outside. You’re not supposed to be getting together with people who aren’t members of your household. Yes, it’s difficult, but I think a lot of us would much rather be a little lonely now and not have our entire summer taken away, and also keep others alive and well.
It isn’t just our generation that’s the problem, though. I was walking on the Bolin Creek Trail the other day and saw a couple of families just standing around and chatting as their kids played together. It’s quite possible that they just ran into each other, but I think I was more offended that they were letting their children play together, potentially putting the lives of the elderly and immunocompromised at risk.
A lot of people, teenagers especially, might think, “Oh the government is just overreacting.” America and teenagers need to stop giving into inherent selfishness. We can’t be living under the guise that if it doesn’t affect you, it doesn’t matter anymore. By not respecting these orders, there is the potential for more people to get seriously ill or die.
If we’re able to abide by what the government is telling us, we’ll all get the much-deserved reunion with our friends sooner. To those of you who are respecting quarantine, your efforts are greatly appreciated, and it’ll all pay off in the long run.
Photo by Eloise Rich/The ECHO
