CLEAR COMMUNICATIONS FOR NEEDY TIMES, LIKE NOW

Clear communications sound like this:

“For best results follow the instructions included.”

For the past year and half the covid instructions include wearing a mask, washing hands, and social distancing.

Add getting a vaccine and we’re all up to date and safe?

It turns out everyone is not as adept at following instructions as they could be, or should be.

Just when you thought the needy times were over, here comes Delta.

Let’s review what is needed to solve this problem.

In the Army you meet your new best friend, an M16 machine gun. You go to school with your new best friends and learn all about it before pulling the trigger.

During class the instructor walks his pupils through disassembly, identifying each part, then putting it back together. The communication couldn’t be more clear.

To drive the point home, the class does the same thing three times. Everybody takes the gun apart and puts it back together. All finished except for the last part.

“Now the real test,” the instructor says before turning off the lights.

The Lights Are On For Covid-19

Is it disheartening to hear more quacky remedies for the virus? After rolling out the bleach remedy, the malaria drug remedy, now we get the horse worm remedy?

“Hey, what about the vaccine, Pa?”

“Don’t be a sucker and a loser, boy. Me and Old Paint gonna stick with the wormer and you should too if you know what’s good for you.”

“Okay, daddy.”

What is wrong with this picture? After all of the science and money and Dolly Parton, there’s still too much lingering doubt.

Parton even sang a parody version of her hit song, Jolene, that had the lyrics, “vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, I’m begging of you please don’t hesitate,” and “Once you’re dead, that’s a bit too late.”

Not everyone is jumping on the vaccine bandwagon in Tennessee.

The Tennessee Department of Education appears to no longer accept reports from school districts about COVID-19 cases in their classrooms.

Next question: Will they accept reports from the hospitals about covid-19 deaths?

“Tom Paul won’t be in class the rest of the year, or next year, or the year after.”

Education Promotes Clear Communications

Somewhere along the line you learned what to do if you find yourself on fire:

STOP, DROP, AND ROLL.

Poison has two choices: To hurl, or not to hurl.

But the Oregon Poison Center gives more clear communications than some random blogger.

Profuse bleeding requires one remedy: Stop it and stop it fast. But don’t take advice from some former Army medic when there’s the Mayo Clinic.

When you read posts on this blog you’ll notice a few things about the blogger. Besides dashing, handsome, and brave, you’ll notice I don’t set myself up as the final word on anything. Why? Because a good writer helps others understand things worth knowing.

It doesn’t take a blustering authoritative a-hole to make a convincing statement of fact. Better to point to better sources in a humble way than working to be the end-all be-all mouthpiece of disinformation.

If you live in a state run by Governor Shit-Talker like Florida or Texas, stay on your toes. Those are two men obsessed with their own authority who feel free to give medical opinions.

Science doesn’t agree with shit talk. That gets weeded out during the scientific process. What lab wizard is going to risk their reputation on bad science the way the Dr. Birx did by standing next to Trump.

What PhD in any lab would agree with one of the doctors mentioned by the former administration who said she works with alien DNA with great success?

Clear Covid Communication

What’s it like to die from covid?

“I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.”

That’s how some healthcare professionals put it.

If you’ve ever been that sick, or seen people that sick, don’t you think the seriousness of covid would sink in?

As I dealt with cancer and chemo and radiation I wondered who I could wish it on and came up empty.

Back in the 80’s I had a neighbor who sat with her friend for an AIDS death. She said it was horrible, then acted it out. It was worse.

The timing is the hard part, the slow ebb of life leaving the body. Sudden death is one thing, but the slow drain, breath by breath, leaves room for some last contemplating.

Before you end up in an ICU, before you send someone, contemplate this:

Get a vaccine. If you’ve got it, work to encourage those around you to get it. Talk to them about wearing a mask while wearing a mask.

Peer pressure is a wonderful tool unless people have the wrong peers.

Be a good peer. Start by being a better peer. You’re good enough to do that, and people will like you.