COVID death celebration evokes memories of HIV death celebration

[ShazzieB]

85. I think I'm just about where you are.

I don't think I have ever actually celebrated anyone dying. I just can't muster up much sympathy for people who willfully and deliberately refuse to get vaccinated, won't mask up, and end up dying of covid because of it.

I feel terrible for anyone who gets sick because of these bozos, especially the immunosuppressed and anyone who doesn't have access to the vaccines. I feel even more terrible for the health care workers who have to deal with them every day. But the bozos themselves?

These people aren't just endangering themselves with their bad choices. They endanger ALL of our lives and the lives of everyone we hold dear. They're serving as petri dishes for the development of new variants and as vectors who spread those variants far and wide. I'm ANGRY with them for that. I'm angry with them for all the damage they're doing and all the suffering they cause.

This disease is spread through the air we breathe. No matter what precautions I take personally, unless I stay home all day every day, from now until God knows when, I could still get this disease. I'm vaxxed and boostered so not very likely to have a bad outcome, but the possibility is still there for my husband and me, just because we're over 70 with pre-existing medical conditions.

I've been living in fear of this disease for almost 2 years now, and I am freaking sick and tired of it and of the people who are doing things that encourage it to continue raging out of control.

But celebrate people dying? No, not really. When someone who is known for actively working to spread disinformation and lies about the severity of this disease and the importance of masking and getting vaccinated is hoist by their own petard, I've been known to breathe a sigh of relief that there is now going to be one less person doing that. If someone wants to call that celebrating even though I don't feel the least bit celebratory, so be it.

I've also been known to indulge in gallows humor at the expense of antivaxxers and maskholes. This is not celebrating either. It's a coping mechanism, and it helps me keep my sanity. According to Dictionary.com, gallows humor is "humor that treats serious, frightening, or painful subject matter in a light or satirical way." It's a way of shrinking scary or disturbing things down to a size that makes them a little easier to deal with, something that can be very helpful in times like these. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but it is mine, and from what I can tell, I have a lot of company. This is NOT celebrating, even though it involves laughter. Anyone who doesn't find it funny is welcome not to laugh, but please believe me I say that some of us NEED to be able to relieve tension in this way. If you think that makes us a bunch of sickos, here's something that might help you understand better: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/crisis-control/202006/in-praise-gallows-humor

Going forward, I will do my best to not appear to celebrate anyone’s death, because I agree that is wrong. But I'm afraid you'll have to pry my gallows humor from my cold dead hands, because I am not giving that up. I need it to survive all this craziness.