2020 won! I hope in 12 months’ time I am able to say that 2021 lost and we won.
But it’s going to take a lot more than what we are giving at the moment.
And that’s because we seem to be surrounded by wilfully stupid, ignorant people.
There are those who you can argue have vapour between their ears.
Like the folks in that viral video partying up a storm, while the president is on the TV screen above the bar, pleading for common sense.
Even if there was one interested person in the pub, it wouldn’t have mattered, because the venue was far too rowdy and the party was rocking, to hell with social distancing.
A second video shows a similar scene, and proves that stupidity comes in all skin tones.
Or how about the story I heard about a man who tested positive for Covid and when healthcare workers went to check on him, they learned he had hopped onto a taxi to visit his family in the Eastern Cape?
And let’s not talk about people he would’ve come into contact with at home.
I just cant...
Posted by Bobby Brown on Tuesday, December 29, 2020
Did he not realise that he could’ve potentially infected every other passenger in that taxi and every shop assistant he bought cooldrink from along the way?
Do some people really treat this as a sort of game of chance?
People still walk around without a mask and youngsters took chances by partying into the new year.
To avoid breaking the regulations, they did so indoors, in small groups, as if the Coronavirus only targets gatherings of ten or more.
Even supposedly intelligent people are playing with our lives, like academics socialising without masks or social distancing.
I even know of one story where a doctor interacted with vulnerable elderly relatives, while knowingly being Covid-positive.
There really can be no other explanation left.
We have had a year to come to terms with how this thing works and what we need to do to prevent it from spreading.
So there are no more excuses and disregarding the regulations is now tantamount to premeditated attempted murder.
This is what you get when you build a nation on widespread disregard for authority; a population that has civil disobedience engraved into its very identity.
It is what our democracy is built on; and we are not flexible and nimble enough as a nation to adapt to, and conquer, national challenges.
But we can be.
Those few individuals who insist on being wayward understand that they are the ones holding us all back.
It’s because of them that we may face even harsher restrictions when the president addresses us again next week.
So it is up to each and every one of us as individuals to police the stupidity around us.
If we want our freedom of movement back, we have no choice.
If you want to be able to go to a bottle store for your favourite drink, go for a late-night drive to stuff your face with gelato on Blouberg Beach, or make Valentine’s Day a beach day, then you are going to have to do this.
If the herd is only as strong as the weakest member, then it stands to reason that a society is only as smart as its most ignorant citizen.
It’s time we educate them.
We are going to have to politely confront those flouting the regulations; and even call the cops on them, because what they are doing is not just irresponsible and dangerous, it is also illegal.
They - not government - are the reason we are back on Level 3.
Government is simply reacting to their ongoing ignorance!
Let’s not let our lives be determined by the stupids.