Just Thinkin’: Do it like Rosie ... By Hal McBride

Do you recall Rosie the Riveter’s sleeves?

They were rolled up! It doesn’t matter what difficulty our country finds itself in, the solution most often lies in folks just rolling their sleeves up and getting busy. I submit this pandemic is no different.

Sign up, sit down, roll up your sleeves and get vaccinated.

Some folks don’t want to participate.

I believe we all should accept and respect that some of our fellow citizens have valid medical or religious reasons for not wanting to join us in getting vaccinated.  

I want to state my clear and consistent belief that the Novel Coronavirus of 2019 is neither Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Socialist, Fascist or Independent. It is simply a nasty little bugger of a virus and it deserves to be eradicated.

Stephen Hawking once said, “Science can lift people out of poverty and cure disease. That in turn will cure civil unrest.”

I think we are ideally positioned to prove him right – or wrong. Truth be told, the vaccine itself is likely international, but I like to think it is American. I know Moderna is a Boston-area company. If Johnson & Johnson isn’t an American company, it ought to be. Otherwise, I need to rethink my position on Band-Aids.

I know Pfizer headquarters are on 42nd Street in New York City. Yes, I googled it. I like the word google, it can be a noun or a verb. Anyway, I’m not a real estate mogul but I know there is not much manufacturing being done in midtown Manhattan.

While I am talking about COVID-19 vaccinations, this is fine time to say I see no reason small pox or measles or typhoid should be granted the opportunity to again gain a foothold and infect any population, especially our children.

I’ve stated my position on shingles in an earlier “Just Thinkin’.” Still, let me restate, I’m opposed to shingles. Billie and I got the vaccine as soon as it became available. We got it again when a better version came out. I’ve seen family and friends with the shingles. I don’t want shingles. You say there is a shingles vaccine with one percent better efficacy? OK, do you want my right arm? My left arm? Both?

Be it Pfizer or Moderna, or J&J, it is kinda dealer’s choice. Our return to “normal” appears to be related to vaccinations.  As the more of us get a shot, the more “normal” life is going to get. Whatever “normal” is, I want to go there. Soon. I’ve missed more family gatherings, outings and ballgames that I care to.

The Tulsa Drillers opened their season this past weekend. That is a good sign since the entire minor league baseball season was canceled last summer.

For those of you who are vaccinated, thank you. For those of you who decide it isn’t for you and yours, well, thank you for just thinkin’ about it. Now, let’s play ball!

“It is more important to know what sort of person has a disease than to know what sort of disease a person has.”  – Hippocrates

McBride was raised in Haskell County and is the author of several books, which are available at the Haskell County Historical Society. His column is regularly published in the Stigler News-Sentinel.