Super Urgent

I’m going to start this one off with a definition. According to the Oxford Language Dictionary, the word “urgent” means, requiring immediate action or attention. Let me let that sink in. Ok, ok. Immediate is kind of a big word. Let’s define that one. Oxford helps us out again here. Immediate means occurring or done at once or instant.

Keep that in mind while I talk about the new restrictions that have been put in place in Boston. Yesterday, new Mayor Michelle Wu announced that proof of vaccinations will be required to enter certain indoor venues in Boston. These venues include bars, restaurants, gyms, theaters and sports arenas.

First of all, you knew this was coming. Ever since the Covid numbers started going up again with the “omicron” variant. Even though it has been proven that the vaccine DOES NOT prevent of Covid, the politicians love to spread that idea. Don’t get me wrong, I think getting the vaccine is a great idea. It works very much in the same way as a flu shot. It improves your defense to the disease, and if you do get Covid, it keeps it very mild. So, if you’re asking me, which you shouldn’t, I’d recommend you get the shot.

Now let’s get to the government requiring people get the vaccine to go into establishments in Boston. That is a massive over reach of their power. The government shouldn’t be able to tell businesses that they can only let a certain group of people in their building. Sounds bad when you say it like that doesn’t it? Imagine if they said another group of people weren’t allowed into a business. Let’s say the government refused to let people who had blonde hair go into establishments. That would go over well huh?

That being said, private businesses should be able to refuse anyone they want. If the TD Garden in Boston wants to check everyone’s vaccination status before they go watch a Bruins game, that’s cool. But the government has no right to tell private businesses to refuse money. If the Mayor can do this, where does it end?

Anyhow, that’s beside the point. It’s been done so there’s no use in yelling at the clouds. I just won’t go to Boston businesses and be fine. It’s annoying to get into the city anyway.

What is really comical about this situation is typically buried in the headlines. Mayor Wu announced this weekend that she is going to have an “urgent Covid update” on Monday. Hold up. Go back to the first paragraph of this blog. Urgent means immediate right? It doesn’t mean in the next few days. Does “urgent” have weekends off? Even President Biden did this. Maybe that is just the time it takes to set up the press conference? I know it only takes me about an hour to write a blog and get it out to the world. How long does it take to get a microphone and camera running? Oh well. I guess it takes time.

This “urgent” press conference that takes 3 days to prepare for happened on Monday morning. The Mayor then announced all of the requirements that are going to be put in place. Like everyone else, I thought it was happening immediately, because that is in the definition of “urgent.”

Welp, I was wrong. Apparently, “urgent” means on January 15th, 2022.

I’m a simple man. I didn’t know that they changed the definition of “urgent” and “immediately” to mean 25 days later. Knowing this fact will get me out of a lot shit I don’t want to do. So hypothetically, when my boss at school asks me to get something done “immediately” I can then wait about a month, right? Of course not. I’d be fired faster than most of you can spell “immediately.” So why does it take 25 days for establishments to prepare to look at people’s vaccine cards before letting them in? Short answer, it doesn’t. It takes about 30 seconds. They tell some employee on Tuesday morning, “Hey Chuck, you’re on vax card duty.” Done.

These politicians like to use scary words to try and make us panic. You see it on the news and in the papers as well. “BREAKING NEWS!” flashes across our screens, and the anchor tells us something that happened 2 days ago. That’s not really “breaking” if you asked me. This is just politicians using the same technique to grab our attention and scare us all into doing what they want. Unfortunately, when people are scared, they don’t use the logical part of their brain. As someone who isn’t too afraid of the Covid pandemic, I knew to hear the word “urgent” and look for a time frame.

Knowing that they are waiting about a month to put these requirements in place, tells us that they don’t think it is as urgent as they’re making it seem.

This applies to whichever side of the argument you are on. If you’re like me, and want things back to normal and are sick of the nonsense, this is almost funny. Conversely, if you’re very worried about the virus, then you should be wondering why the government only cares about the health of people in 25 days. These politicians are effectively alienating both sides of this situation.

So the government is telling you one of two things. 1) They aren’t worried enough about the pandemic to take actual “immediate” action, and they’re lying to us. Or 2) They don’t care about our health enough to truly protect us against this virus. So you make your decision on which option it is. Either way, it’s not “urgent” to them apparently.