The mayor of the city in which I live recently sent a cheerful note to the city’s residents, reading, in part:
In closing, Newtonians can be proud of the way we faced COVID-19 together.
We rose admirably to the challenges it presented and the responsibilities it required.
We stayed home when we had to. We got vaccinated when we could. We helped our neighbors if we were able and raised our hand for help when needed. We spoke up, leaned in and took action. We tried our best to be patient and kind.
With determination and compassion, we will bring our commitment to our common good forward and continue working together to achieve the many goals we share to ensure a positive today and bright tomorrow for this City we love.
It’s a beautiful and uplifting message … except that it’s completely different from the reality I witnessed first-hand. This was my response to her:
I think you saw a different side of Newton than I did during this pandemic.
I saw too many people who were willing to be unnecessarily mean to their neighbors due to their own paralyzing fears, stoked as they were by public health officials who projected an irresponsible certainty in their own approach to deal with the distinctly uncertain circumstances.
The Newtonians I saw were willing to castigate each other over masks and perceived lack of social distancing, cheer their neighbor's firing over vaccines of limited benefit (especially in younger populations) against all established principles of medical ethics, and cast aspersions at those who refused to support the accepted "narrative".
This pandemic brought out the worst in too many of my neighbors ... perhaps it was there all along, but I certainly didn't see it in my first 19 years here, and I was absolutely shocked to see how easily people I thought I knew transformed into judgmental monsters with the explicit support of peers and the tacit encouragement of leadership.
I am waiting, with bated breath, for the mayor’s response.
I believe your breath may be bated for an extensive amount of time - maybe even forever!