Dances With Words: It’s an extremely small ask!

Nick Wolochatiuk ~ Dances With Words
Dances With Words: It’s an extremely small ask!
It’s now your turn: wear a mask, keep your distance and get a jab. We’re all in this together. (Photo by Nick Wolochatiuk)

In time of war, it’s not only soldiers, sailors and airmen who made sacrifices. Farmers, factory workers, miners and even children were expected to do their duty.

Based on my readings, watching documentaries and displays at the Canadian War Museum and other historical sites in Canada and Europe and North Africa and listening to addresses given by some of the few surviving combat veterans, I have learned much about sacrifices made by others.
The most vivid personal accounts come from Juliet, my wife, one year my junior. Being born in Canada, I have virtually no childhood memories of the hardships of my country being at war. However, Juliet could write a book filled with her vivid and touching first-hand experiences in England during WW II: rationing, taking shelter from aerial bombardment, evacuation from home, deprivation from traditional social experiences.

Fast forward to March 18, 2020, our return to Canada from a delightful stay in Portugal. Our aircraft was immediately boarded by personnel wearing hazmat suits, goggles and masks. We were questioned and examined as if we were aliens. Canada, and the rest of the world, was once again at war. This time it wasn’t against the Axis and Japan, but COVID-19.

Once again, we Canadians are getting off relatively lightly. The only ‘hardships’ thrust upon us are: wear a mask, maintain a six-foot distance from those not within our bubble and get a jab.
To my complete disbelief, in my various circles of contacts, ranging from fleeting to regular, I am amazed at those who deny we are at war. They utter nonsense such as, “It’s just the government and big money and Them trying to control us. Doctors get paid $15,000 for each death they falsely report as being from COVID. The inoculations can change your DNA and put 5G receptors in your body!”

C’mon folks! All you’re being asked to do is cover your nose and mouth, keep 78.740157 inches apart and roll up your sleeve! If you’re good, you’ll even get a lollipop.

People sacrificed, even died, for your freedoms. To honour their memory on Remembrance Day, all you’re being asked to do to help protect yourself and others is simple: mask up (you probably did it as a kid on Hallowe’en), keep your distance and be unselfish enough to get your shots.
Eventually, with everyone’s help, the war will be over.

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