Well, I’m an American who is not quite fully vaccinated yet, but little by little I’m getting closer. Somehow, I have made it past the age of 60 and us old farts were included in the initial group that were vaccinated following the essential workers. My first shot was the Sinovac vaccine and in a few weeks my next shot will be the AZ.
My appointment was for 9am at the local government building out here in the boonies where I live. I was surprised upon arriving as there were probably already about a hundred or so people waiting patiently to be vaccinated. The nurse said that they have been busy sunup to sundown trying to take care of the large crowds. Everything was fairly well organized and from start to finish only took me about an hour. Since, I was in the old people group we didn’t have to actually stand in line, instead we went from one plastic lawn chair to the next one. My magic number was 14.
Now here is what is amazing to me. I live in rural Thailand surrounded by plain country folks where many of them probably didn’t even finish high school. Actually, I would bet that many of these old farmers quit school after Grade 8 in order to work and make a living.
Yet, they had enough common sense and smarts to get vaccinated.
I can see people shaking their heads and saying no way to the Chinese made Sinovac vaccination. As a young boy growing up on a farm in the Midwest, I can still see in my mind’s eye and hear one particular lecture coming from my father at the dinner table. He basically said that he didn’t run a restaurant and us boys could either eat what was on the table or go hungry. I applied that life lesson here in Thailand.
As many of you know, my wife (Dee) and I run an open-air style pizza joint on the weekends and are usually quite busy even throughout this pandemic. And as such, I have the opportunity to talk and mingle with the customers. Here is what one Thai person had to say about Covid and Americans.
“I love America and have visited many times. I actually got my master’s degree in Michigan a long time ago. Americans always talk about the freedom to do what they want and to believe in whatever they want. This is a good thing. But some Americans are not thinking like us Thais right now. Sorry.”
And guess what, he is exactly right. Many Americans are not thinking and to me that is disappointing. Maybe, I’m old school but if on my report card from many years ago; the highest grade was a 70%, my father would have said that I barely passed.
Even in this rural farming village out here in the boonies, I’d be willingly to wager a pizza that these supposedly uneducated folks will get a 90% on their real-life report card.
I still can’t get my head around that many Americans are satisfied with being a 70% nation…
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