I’m kind of angry right now

December was an unexpectedly terrible month, beginning with my brother-in-law, David, informing Paul about their dad’s fall.

On November 29, 2021, my father-in-law, Roy, fell and broke his hip. Roy lay on the floor for several hours until the ambulance arrived. Like many hospitals around the world, they are overwhelmed with unvaccinated patients with COVID-19 and have to conduct triage where they never thought they would. At the hospital, Roy’s hip was fixed, but he also contracted COVID-19. He was sent home from the hospital on December 23.

The home carers and David struggled to take care of Roy. On December 27, David again called for an ambulance to take Roy back to the hospital. He was struggling to breathe and his condition had quickly worsened.

We received daily updates from David on Roy’s condition. David signed a DNR (do not resuscitate) and we all prepared for the likely outcome while continuing to hope Roy would get better. On December 31, the hospital told David they were considering placing Roy on end-of-life care, which means they would stop all treatment and only provide pain medication.

Roy was placed on end-of-life care on January 3, 2022. Roy passed away at 4:30pm British time, 9:30am Mountain Time, on Tuesday, January 4.

Paul and David are now sorting out the funeral arrangements and when Paul will be flying back to England. He will likely be there two to three weeks, but the funeral date has to be set first. Right now, it’s tentatively set for January 21 and Paul is thinking of leaving around January 14. Funerals are different in the United Kingdom. When Paul’s mom, Linda, passed away in 2019, the funeral took place three weeks later. I won’t be making the trip this time. It is too cost prohibitive for us to do so.

Despite the fact Paul is vaccinated and has had his booster, and David is vaccinated, too, I worry Paul is going to catch COVID-19. He could catch in one of the four airports he must traverse to reach Preston. He could catch it on any of the planes. He could catch it on the train ride from Manchester Airport to Preston. He could catch it in Preston. I also worry about the global implications and the real possibility Paul could get trapped in England and won’t be able to return for months if flights continue to be canceled. I worry about our financial future if it actually happens.

I’m not going to apologize for being angry at the asshats who continue to refuse to take this pandemic seriously. At this point, with millions of people around the world vaccinated and millions trying to do the right thing, the asshats are nothing more than selfish pricks. The military has refused exemption requests. Employers are refusing exemption requests. OSHA is requiring a vaccine-or-test mandate. I don’t want to hear about your religious beliefs. Every religion on this planet tells you to think of others and help others. Religious leaders around the world, from evangelicals to The Vatican, have said to get vaccinated.

People are dying because they cannot get the preventive and immediate care they need because you choose to believe lies. You are preventing people from getting the vital care they need. You and your anti-vax friends and family are clogging up the hospitals with your sick covid selves because you can’t see past your own nose to consider how your actions are affecting other people. Many anti-vax people could still be living if they didn’t believe the lies spoon fed to them.

It’s been long enough. It didn’t have to be this way. If you won’t wear a mask, social distance, isolate when sick and/or get vaxxed, you caused the COVID-19 pandemic to be far more dangerous and long-lasting than it needed to be. Stop being a selfish asshole. Start being responsible. I did my part. You need to step up and do yours. The life you save could be yours.