Living? in hell, er, I mean WV

I got frustrated a few days ago when I read this in a comment:

”I predict that the high COVID death counties will see more Democratic party gains than just subtracting the dead from the Republican column.”

Notice anything missing? What about the dead that will be subtracted from the Democratic column? They DO exist in “high COVID death”, ie RED counties. I happen to be one of them, although thankfully not dead yet. 

It is frustrating to see it boiled down to that — live or dead bodies, red or blue.

So I thought I would write about what it is like to live in WV which, as of today, not only leads the country in cases per 100,000 but actually leads the whole wide world.  

Our Republican governor, Jim Justice, actually started out doing pretty well in managing COVID. We locked down before we had a single case because it was clear that it was coming, had a mask mandate longer than most red states, and when vaccines first rolled out we were one of the best in getting those jabs in arms as fast as possible. The state worked with small family-owned pharmacies which are all over WV to do so and it worked, at least at first. It was actually innovative, a first for WV.

At this point, we still barely 40% vaxed. And while other red states that experienced bad Delta surges also experienced vax surges, WV has not. We continue to have the most bull-headed and stupid population in the country although Wyoming does give us a run for our money, bless them.

I am 63, retired on disability for 16 years and live alone. I have 2 grown sons who live in the same small city and one of them has 2 kids, ages 6 and 3, who I see nearly every week.  I locked down tight when COVID hit but had regular and often long facetime sessions with the 6 year old, doing crafts and playing games with her. I got vaxed at the earliest opportunity, fully vaxed in mid-April.  However, because the kids can’t be vaxed, I have continued to be very careful, as have we all as a family. I always mask when in public, only go somewhere if it is truly necessary, and have no social life at all outside of my kids.  My only “excitement” of the last 18 months has been to get a hip replacement and recover from it at home alone.

I am told that people respect my “choice” to “stay boxed in” but where is the choice? How would I live with myself if I got COVID and gave it to one of my grandkids? 

I’m bored out of my skull, lonely, and depressed. I have wracked my brain for months trying to think of things I could do but every thing I come up with is a no-go mostly because of COVID.  And now, with Delta putting us at #1, our bleeping governor STILL hasn’t put a mask mandate in place nor required masks for schools. 

So my granddaughter, the 6 yo, was exposed last week and spent this week in quarantine. Her test came back negative today so she goes back to school tomorrow. My anxiety about her and her little brother is extreme. 

Having no state level mask mandate in a red state makes it practically impossible for any small businesses to require masks in their stores. With more than half the population not vaxed, they would clearly be risking a lot of business if they required masks given the current political climate. If the governor would just do the mask mandate, it would take the pressure off of them but he is too much of a political coward to do so. My fury with him knows no bounds. In the meantime, the sane people like me stay home and don’t get out and stimulate the economy like they would if things weren’t so bad.

So my depression and anxiety are off the charts. But the worst part is that I have lost hope. I’m pretty sure that Delta will burn out eventually (IMHE says Oct 9, hang on I gotta puke) but then what? Mu? Some other variant?  With such a low vax rate, how can we ever get to something approaching normal? We can’t. And the governor won’t do anything. Maybe Biden’s vax mandates will help some and maybe if we get pounded to death with another surge in November or December or January, the governor and populace will finally GET IT but how can I put any faith in any of that happening?  

My family has been super careful. We all got vaxed ASAP, we’ve locked down, masked, distanced and done everything we can to avoid COVID and we did avoid it up until my granddaughter was exposed last week.  Clearly there is a limit to how long we can keep the wolves from the door.  

I’m seriously only one step up the ladder from jail. And I have no idea when it will end. 

It would really be nice if someone gave a shit beyond counting our bodies as lost votes when we die. 

And please, don’t give me a line about moving or how we got here in the first place. I really don’t want to hear that kind of stuff. If I could lift us all up and move, I wouldn’t be here now.