While I feel like we're all pretty clear on where I stand on the whole vaccine debate, I am compelled by a sense of fairness to listen to those who might not share my opinion on the matter. It's always good to hear other perspectives, and as those who are well-positioned to know will tell you, there's always the possibility I'm wrong.
Having said that, I do frequently hear a phrase that strikes me in, I'm sure, not the way it was intended. I have heard people say that instead of getting help to ward off possible infection, they're going to rely on what are indeed the miraculous workings of their bodies. Instead of getting vaccinated, they're going to "trust their immune system."
To which I say, how nice that you feel like you have this relationship with your body. I've reached an age when I don't trust mine any farther than I can throw it. OK, yeah, I know – strange image. But let's keep going here.
I mean, yes, it would be great if I had enough confidence in the amazing inner workings of my earthly shell that I would just trust it to take care me in the face of disease. Perhaps my parents got us off on the wrong foot by not trusting it to protect me from diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, the measles, rubella, chickenpox and any other disease I had to have a vaccine for so I could go to school, which my mother was really excited about.
And maybe I didn't make things any better with those yearly flu shots.
Sure, sure, I may not have always been that supportive of my body. Since, roughly, I don't know, ever. I mean, let's throw out the early "if your brother jumped off the roof of the house, would you, too? Oh, wait, both you idiots did!" phase. And high school, where "because there are cheerleaders" wasn't really a good reason for a person who was thin but slow to try to play football. And college. Yeah, definitely throw out college. Or at least what I remember of college.
Or my 20s, when I thought two Slim Jim's and a Dr. Pepper was a good breakfast. I mean, I think there was fruit juice involved. And since no one really knows what's in a Slim Jim, it's impossible to say there aren't some healthy things.
I should also throw out my 30s and 40s when I started having kids and quit sleeping. And after 50, well, I feel like my body has been taking notes for years, and now I'm in for a little payback.
Take my vision. Something definitely has. And it wasn't a slow process. Went to bed fine, woke up blind. Not exactly a great start to the day.
My knees are just waiting to stab me in the back, which would probably like to kneecap me if it would allow me to bend over far enough to do it. Basically, at this point, what doesn't hurt is numb. Not exactly the A or B selections I was looking for.
So if I can't trust my body to handle a couple of slices of cold pepperoni pizza at midnight, why exactly would I trust it to fight off a virus that has ravaged the globe?
And yes, I know. There are lots of people out there who feel like they've done all the right things, taken care of themselves with incredible precision and are now ready to reap the rewards of bypassing ice cream in favor of some strange Scandinavian yogurt-like thing that explains why there is no happy Finnish music.
To those people I say, a) good for you, b) ice cream might very well be worth a little risk and c), Euell Gibbons, the father of plant-based nutrition, had an ulcer and Jim Fixx, the man who started the running craze, died of a heart attack. Sometimes our bodies only hurt the ones they love.
Now, again, I may very well be wrong on all of this. And I'm sure there are lots of people out there who can, in fact, depend on the wonder of the human body to protect them from this and all other threats. Up until the point when it won't.
But those folks always seem to me like the ones who tell me they have a great relationship with their teenagers who would tell them anything and never lie to them. That's always possible but .... yeeaaaahhh.
So, trust away. And go get your shots.