When I first began hearing the term “COVID fatigue,” I thought perhaps it was a joke – an attempt at “black humor.”
So – who was saying this? Was it medical personnel, caring for the pandemic’s victims? Was it first responders, often transporting victims to hospitals and dealing with death?
No – from photos and descriptions – it almost always was people who appeared to be well dressed and well fed, and not on their way to a hospital. Interviews and questions provided some answers: they were “tired of the plague.” They wanted to go back to “normal.” They resented being told by medical professionals and scientists what to do.” “Dictatorial” government was taking away their “rights.”
All this, and more – after a few months. They were being asked to sacrifice “too much.” After a few months.
Then I thought about the people who were NOT in these stories, protesting about the “unreasonable” requests put on them. There didn’t seem to be too many of the homeless, or the hungry, or the unemployed.
The only complaints from doctors and nurses, and from first responders, was for lack of public support. When pushed, they’d talk about being burned out, and being mentally and physically exhausted. Some had already committed suicide.
And then, I thought of others through history – who might have deserved to complain of some “fatigue,” and moan about not being able to be “normal.”
– There were the Russian civilians during the 900 day Nazi siege {1941-44] who endured attack and starvation. Some 1 million of them died- usually starved to death. Do you suppose THEY might have had a “Nazi fatigue?”
– Then there were the Americans and Filipinos on the forced Death March after being forced to surrender from Corregidor and Bataan. Do you suppose some of them had a “Japanese fatigue?”
– Then there were all the sufferers of the Great Depression, 1930-1941. People suffered in virtually every way possible, including starvation, homeless, unemployed. Do you suppose the people in the “soup lines” had thoughts of “depression fatigue?”
“..there is a still higher type of courage – the courage to brave pain, to live with it, to never let others know it and still find joy in life..” Howard Cosell [1974]
– then there were the British people, 1940-1941, who alone held out against the Nazis. Who braved the German “blitz” of bombing their cities. Do you suppose they might have had a “bomb fatigue?” It helped they had Winston Churchill, and not ……
_ then there were the soldiers at Shiloh, at the “bloody pond,” where the wounded and dying crawled to get water. So many the water turned red, blood red. Do you suppose they might have been thinking about “war fatigue?”
-“Decency – generosity – cooperation – assistance in trouble – devotion to duty; these are the things that are of greater value than surface appearances and customs.” Dwight D. Eisenhower. 6/11/1943 letter
– then there were those who suffered through the Valley Forge winter, most likely saving the American Revolution. Do you suppose they might have had “winter fatigue?”
-then there was Nathan Hale, captured by the British and about to be hung, said: “I regret I have only one life to give…” Do you suppose he might have been experiencing “capture fatigue?”
– “This will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.” Elmer Davis [1954]
– then there were the Americans who fought in, and survived, the jungles of Guadalcanal and Vietnam. Do you suppose they might have been guilty of “jungle fatigue?”
– then there were the people who survived Auschwitz and other infamous concentration camps. Do you suppose they might have had “cruelty fatigue,’ or perhaps “atrocity fatigue?”
-“Great men, great nations, have not been boasters and buffoons, but perceivers of the terror of life, and have manned themselves to face it.” Ralph W. Emerson [1860]
– then there were the survivors of various prisoner of war camps. Do you suppose they might have had “prisoner fatigue?” You can hear their stories at the Andersonville, Georgia memorial.
– then there were the soldiers who stormed the beaches at Normandy and Iwo Jima. Do you suppose they might have had “being killed fatigue?” You can contemplate this at the Normandy Memorial, or at Pearl Harbor, or at Gettysburg,
-“I would define true courage to be a perfect sensibility of the measure of danger, and a mental willingness to endure it.” William T. Sherman [1875]
Suppose William Shakespeare were alive today. What do you think he might create to reflect the lack of character by a noisy few Americans? Perhaps a play with the title of “The Stupid and the Selfish?” Or, if Mark Twain were alive. Can you imagine a book about some of our gutless and pandering politicians, with the title of “Huckleberry Hypocrite?” Or, if Nathaniel Hawthorne lived, perhaps his latest book would be titled “The New Scarlet Letter?” That new “letter” would be the “S.” As in saboteur, stupid, or selfish?
Just a few thoughts and questions. Wondering what people who REALLY endured something deadly – like bullets or starvation – might say about the current generation of “adults” reacting in childlike fashion over the “penalty” of not being able to go out for a beer? Do you suppose the men at Valley Forge, Gettysburg, Shiloh, Belleau Wood. the Battle of the Bulge. the march from Frozen Chosin, Ia Drang, multiple Iraq-Afghanistan tours – just might have wanted a beer?
Are we still “the home of the brave” or the home of the whiners?
[note – quotes from The Harper Book of American Quotations]
With Justice For All 