Pandemic: The Bully

I was having a chat with my sister Julie earlier this evening and she made a comment that stuck in my head. I mentioned that I'd heard so many people nonchalantly claim COVID-19 is "just like the flu," and she responded, "Yeah, it's like the flu... if the flu were a young Arnold Schwarzenegger on steroids." ("And with 'roid rage!" I added, and we laughed.)

But the more I think about it, the more I realize that vivid mental image of Ah-nold on steroids, with full-on 'roid rage, connects to a pretty solid analogy. So here it is.

COVID-19 operates a lot like an aggressive bully. (I know a little bit about bullies, as I was a target of their ire all through grade school). It's mean, it's relentless, and it's unpredictable. Most people are afraid of the bully, even if it leaves most people alone, because the bully has a way of elbowing through the crowd to pick on folks seemingly at random: the fat kid, the guy with the inhaler, the girl with diabetes, the skinny boy who has to sit out sports because he has a bad heart. Like all bullies, it preys on the weak -- and it pummels them. Sometimes it's a single harsh blow, but sometimes the bully's targets are beaten so badly they have to recuperate in the hospital. Some receive permanent scars from the damage. And some die.

Bullies can only get away with the things they do because nobody knows who they might pick on to hurt next. The unpredictability of the bully's attacks puts people on edge, makes them nervous. They might want to help those who are targeted by bullies, but what can they do?

This is what they can do. Everyone can band together to form a physical line of defense against the bully. Maybe they can't defeat the bully this way, but they can protect the kinds of people the bully likes to hurt or kill. In the meantime, they can formulate a plan to beat up the bully so thoroughly that it can't hurt people again.

COVID-19 homemade face mask. Image by Olgierd Rudak.
cc-by-2.0 license as of 1 June 2020. Original image here.

This is exactly why wearing a mask in public places is so critical right now. It doesn't necessarily protect you against the bully that is COVID-19, and it's certainly not a fun activity, but it keeps the coronavirus from elbowing through crowds to pick on others. When enough people do it, the bully can't operate -- it can't spread to cause more harm. Wearing a mask is a way of saying, "We can't stop COVID-19 right now, but we can protect vulnerable people from it until we find a way to kick its butt -- through a vaccine or other treatment that stops it cold."

And what of those people who boldly declare that they'll never, ever wear a face mask?

Well, have you ever noticed that real-life bullies have their -- what shall we call them? Retinues? Entourages? Hangers-on? Toadies? -- anyway, the sniveling little jerks who laugh at whatever the bully says, who cheer on whatever the bully does, because by allying themselves with the bully they hope not to be among its victims? I think of people who don't wear masks in just that way. By focusing on their own needs first and always, by refusing to do any little thing that in the least inconveniences them, by failing to protect the weak and vulnerable among us, they have chosen to ally themselves with the bully. They help spread the scourge. They are COVID-19's toadies.

And having seen what COVID-19 can do, I frankly wouldn't give them the time of day.