The following column was submitted to our sister Glacier Media site, Alaska Highway News, from Judy Kucharuk, a community columnist living in Dawson Creek.
Apparently, the threat of death isn’t enough to convince some folks that COVID-19 is real and that they should do everything in their power to stop the spread.
I get it, as a smoker I know that I am at risk for a laundry list of ‘not good’ things including death, but I still cannot dump the habit. I continue to smoke knowing that I am endangering my health with every puff. I consider myself a moderately intelligent individual – one would think that I would be smarter than this.
I spin the big wheel every time I light up a cigarette. I can also be responsible for killing others – simply by sharing my secondhand smoke.
One would think the threat of death would be the ultimate deterrent.
It got me thinking, and during my weekend ‘deep thoughts’ moment (pondering life while I soaked in the bathtub) I wondered if the overwhelming reaction to COVID-19 Safety Protocol would be different if the threat of infection was not death, but rather, contracting COVID-19 made your nose rot and fall off. Would we be more inclined to protect ourselves and others? Would that mask be worn without pushback and commentary?
I honestly do not know.
What does the outcome of infection have to be for 100 per cent of the population to take COVID-19 seriously? And when I say seriously, I mean 100 per cent of the population measuring the threat against the same metrics.
I have no clue why we humans think the way that we do. We seem to be obsessed with “what are my chances?” before we commit to anything.
No pre-existing conditions? Under 50 years of age? Fit as a fiddle? Is that the benchmark we are using?
What threat-assessment are we using these days?
I had no idea that so many of us were thrill seekers, ready to hypothetically jump out of the plane repeatedly because the likelihood of death is minimal.
It is an interesting perspective, no? I had never thought of it this way before and it makes some sense in a weird context.
Not everyone is the same, therefore we will all have different responses to a threat. Some of us are willing to defy the odds and others are much less likely to poke the bear.
As hypocritical as I am since I smoke KNOWING that I am endangering my health, I am less of a risk taker when it comes to COVID-19. I wear my mask, socially distance, worry 24-7 about my children and parents, yada, yada, yada.
Other’s do not share my perspective, or my fear and I guess I must be okay with that.
