OPINION: Remote work the worst part of COVID

Apr. 23—A week ago, I had been hacking and coughing for a few days, but not feeling too bad. It could have been allergies. We all have them these days. I wasn't running a fever and hadn't lost my sense of taste or smell. I was exhausted, but that's always the case for me. Psoriatic arthritis is to blame, and the only thing to somewhat ease the sleepy, lackadaisical feeling is exercise, and more exercise. It's a vicious circle. People who work long hours don't have a lot of time to exercise or eat decent meals, and when they do find the time, they're too tired.

Saturday night, my husband suggested I take one of those COVID tests we got free from the government. It's about the only "free" thing I've ever gotten from the government. There's some irony in that, because almost every one of my ultra-conservative friends deems me a "liberal," although at one time or another, they've gotten government freebies, but perpetually disdain entitlements for anyone else. I could also point you to some of the most conservative high-profile citizens and tick off a list of the "benefits" they are even today receiving — including, in some cases, the COVID shot.

But I took the test. I'd taken them before, both at home and in drive-thrus. I've had two Moderna shots and the booster. I hardly go anywhere these days but work, and when I do, I mask up and stay away from strange, potentially diseased individuals. I wash and sanitize my hands like I own stock in sanitizer and every little bit counts. But I haven't been as careful lately as I should have been, and sure enough, the test came back positive. Later, my husband was positive, too.

I wasn't all that surprised. Several friends and family members who were fully vaccinated got COVID, and in almost every case, it was from an unvaxxed person who either doesn't believe the vaccine works, or doesn't give a fat rat's patootie about anyone else. The first group are skeptics or even cynics, and who can blame them, the way things have been going the past several years? The latter group is lumped by some of us into the category of "freedumb fighters." They care about liberty only if it's their own, and they also talk about Jesus Christ as a "personal savior," with no regard to how the deity may be dealing in the lives of others. In other words, they understand neither the concept of "liberty" nor the teachings of Christ.

But I digress. It's up to each of us to decide whether COVID was created by a Chinese citizen in an obscure lab, and if so, whether it was deliberately dispersed or escaped accidentally; piggy-backed into the system through an infected animal, like a bird or a monkey; or is a product of bad evolutionary luck. I'm both an adherent of science and of faith, and since the two aren't mutually exclusive in my mind, I hold the opinion that it doesn't matter. It's here, and just like a particularly nasty variant of influenza, it's going to come after us if we don't try to stop it. And we should try.

I don't know anyone who has been vaccinated and then contracted COVID and has become extremely sick. I've had people tell me they know "hundreds" who have been gravely ill or died, either because of the vaccine or despite it. None of these folks have provided me with a single name so I can check out their story, and it amuses me they didn't think I might ask. That's like assuming a cop on a murder scene won't look for a weapon or a motive.

One of the worst aspects of the "COVID of the vaccinated" is the bone-deep weariness. Some days, I've had to struggle to be out of bed and on duty by 8 a.m., and that's always the case with me, anyway, because of the arthritis. I understand now what "brain fog" means. And the timing couldn't be worse; we're short-staffed, and we're in the middle of our Progress edition, which annually marks one of the most grueling periods of my existence. If you know, you know; if you don't, you don't want to. Then there's the intermittent coughing; early on, I felt like at any moment, I'd hear the wet splat of a lung hitting the linoleum.

But the absolute worst is the quarantine. My husband and I have been semi-quarantining since this thing began back in 2020, although we've taken a few vacations, albeit to places with safety measures in place. We've masked on planes and in airports. We haven't sat next to anyone who was determined to get rid of a lung. And now, I'm not sitting next to anyone at all. Right in the middle of Progress, I've been having to do my job — all of it — in the discomfort of my own home. I'm one of the few people who despises working from home. There are many reasons, but the inability to connect immediately with coworkers, when you operate as part of a cohesive team, is the main problem. Texting back and forth is a pain when your thumbs are arthritic, and talking on the phone isn't much better if your throat is sometimes sore. My husband has also been working from home, but it's easier for him.

For those who are awaiting your turn in the COVID barrel, let me say this: With the vaccination, it's not a whole lot worse than the flu, and in some cases, maybe far better. But every day is a new day; you may feel OK, then suddenly, you feel like you've been tossed into a compost box where blowflies have already hatched. It's not a sickness so much as difficulty staying awake and concentrating.

I believe I'll be back at work Monday, though the health department tells me I have to mask up for at least three days. I don't mind. I have some advice, though: If you haven't already, get the damn shot. Even with a mild case, you don't want this. Trust me.