HOLDING GRUDGES TAKES A SPECIAL KIND OF STRENGTH

Holding grudges is a time honored tradition between races, religions, nations, and families.

“We don’t like them.”

“Why don’t we like them?”

“Why would we?”

This exchange gets played out between young and old, men and women, brothers and sisters.

Eventually holding grudges turns into something completely different than how it started because no one remembers how it started.

However, some memories do persist. Take yesterday for example.

On August 6, 1945, America dropped an atomic bomb on Japan.

It didn’t end the grudge held since December 7, 1941 as much as it started a new one. If that wasn’t enough, three days later another atomic bomb dropped on Japan.

Somehow the two nations came to an agreement. If Japan would stop raping Nanking, Singapore, and Manilla, America would stop dropping bombs on their cities.

So far, so good.

Early Grudges Last A Lifetime

Where I grew up towns were known for holding grudges for generations.

One side featured the North Bend Bulldogs, on the other side the Marshfield Pirates of Coos Bay.

I was a Bulldog with Pirates in my sights. In team sports the Bulldogs got pounded; in wrestling the Bulldogs did the pounding.

After season after season of losing football and losing basketball in junior high, I decided to try wrestling to change things up in high school.

Not much changed. I lost to a skinny legged guy who’d had polio. He made up for it with a superman strong upper-body. Then I lost to a guy who had no upper body strength but huge legs.

Those two Pirates were an odd pair. They had one guy on their team that beat them both, the guy I was tossed on the mat to face with this pep talk: “Just don’t get pinned.”

Such an insult, right? Nothing about giving it my best, or try my hardest. The coach knew what was going to happen based on my results against the others: I was going to get pinned fast.

The other guy seemed to have the same plan. We worked things out.

Rival Towns Are The Best Towns

I was secretly thrilled when the Marshfield Pirates did well against other schools, and even more excited when the Bulldogs won big.

Back in my day both teams played the big schools from Eugene, which was also home to the UofO Ducks.

The big college teams in Oregon played in the PAC 8 where they did about as well in the conference as the two coast teams did against Eugene schools.

But they all got better.

Rivalries grew state sized when Oregon was compared to Washington and California. At least we had Idaho for border balance.

From there the rivalry turned into East vs West, city slickers against cowboys. Then I moved to the big cities and found the Easties didn’t like each other. Philadelphia didn’t like New York, Brooklyn didn’t like Manhattan.

With the Bulldog v Pirate rivalry in my background it all made perfect sense.

Today we all face a new rivalry, a deadly rival.

Covid Is Holding Grudges Against The Human Race

When rivalries turn into hate, bad things happen. The problem with covid is misplaced rivalry.

People need to better understand that the covid vaccination is a tool in the fight against this deadly disease.

The reasoning goes off the tracks with people holding grudges against ‘The Government.’

Often these same people fawn over a former President, the former leader of ‘The Government’ they hate and distrust.

They place their love and faith in the hands of a man so dinged up that he can’t understand how to keep people safe, but he takes the shot.

Put on a red hat and join the rally of maskless screamers who cheer their guy while he shows how little he thinks of them, calling them under-educated, and they love him more every time.

Could anyone get through to them that covid19 doesn’t care who they suck up to, who they send money to, or where they live. Maybe explain what mass death means and they aren’t exempt because some fat load covered in make-up and hair spray tells them what they want to hear.

“Don’t worry, not one little bit, because of everyone in the universe hearing my voice is immune.”

The only problem, aside from his fans eating it up, is this is not how things work.

You can gear up with a vaccine and masks and do your best to dodge the virus, or face the world uncovered and unvaccinated because, “God is my medicine, and God medicine works.”

Let’s review: Jesus loves you, this you know, because the Bible told you so.

If you cherish your friends and family, neighbors and citizens, your fellow Americans, why not get vaccinated and wear a mask? It won’t turn you into a ‘Sheeple’, it won’t make you sick, it won’t ‘chip’ you.

What it will do is help you avoid a hospital visit with a tube rammed down your neck to breath, and the chance to catch a secondary infection.

But, why take my advice? Why listen to another cancer survivor who knows how important things like friends and family and porch parties can be.

You don’t get any of that when you’re dead from covid. Holding grudges when you’re dead also loses the magic.