Given all the deaths from COVID-19 and how rapidly the virus spreads, along with all the mutations we are now seeing, how far would you go to protect yourself and your family?
It seems like everybody has their own take on the virus and what they will or won’t do about it. I know some people who are completely sequestered, who pay by credit card to have groceries delivered to the house and only go out to get it after it is dropped off and the driver leaves. I know other people, like us, who don’t go to that extreme, but who do stay home as much as possible, wear masks when we have to go out, use hand sanitizer, wash their hands frequently, and social distance as much as possible. I also know people who leave their homes and families to go to work every day and take every possible precaution they can, and still fear what might happen. And then there are those who don’t believe the virus is real or think they are somehow magically immune, and go on like always, ignoring it completely.
Someone asked me back in April if we are going to spend the rest of our lives hiding in the house from something we couldn’t see. I told him that I didn’t survive jumping out of airplanes and getting shot and stabbed, not to mention a couple of bad car wrecks, only to risk my life acting like a fool.
I’m asking you all this is because of the situation an acquaintance found herself in. She is a single mom with a 19-year-old son, a 17-year-old daughter, another daughter age 12, and a 9-year-old son. She said that her oldest son told her he was going to spend the weekend helping a friend move, which she wasn’t happy about, but then she saw pictures of him on Facebook at Super Bowl parties in Tampa. There were crowds of people hanging on each other and not a mask to be seen anywhere. She sent him a message saying that whenever he wanted to come by and pick up his clothes, they would be in a box outside and that he was not welcome in the house anymore.
Some people have told her that is way too harsh and suggested she have her son get tested first and allow him back in the house as long as he is negative, or else have him self-quarantine for 14 days before he comes home. But her feeling is that if he did something like this once, he would do it again, and she is not going to endanger her life or the lives of her other children because this irresponsible fool wanted to go out and party and then lie about it.
This is not the first parent I have heard from in the same situation. What would you do if you were in her shoes? I know that I would do the exact same thing, and I have some family members who were faced with that choice who also did the same. Is it too harsh, or is it simply survival?
Thought For The Day – Once, my son asked, “Can I have a book mark?” and it broke my heart. The kid was eleven years old, and he still didn’t know my name was Nick.
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
That woman knows her child better than any of us do. If she felt he would put them all at risk, I would support her decision.
At first, I thought I would tell the boy to self-quarantine for 14 days in some motel he paid for himself but how could she trust him to do that? I suspect our daughter, at that age, would have just gone to stay with friends and continued her risky behavior.
Terry and Nick, I concur with the single mother and you. I think likely sometime in the future there will be a reconciliation. A family like that will make it through the tough times.
I agree. Our daughter lives less than 2 miles down the road yet we haven’t had an inside visit since this started. She is 48 and wants to protect us since she works and is exposed to the public every day, though she takes every precaution that she can.
She would have been just as responsible about this at 19, I think. I don’t know the same about our other daughter, who did some pretty risky things at that age.
I have a question for you out there. Are you following how to use a mask correctly? The answer is NO. Masks are to be used ONCE. You need to wash or sanitize you hands before using the mask, then you need to take the STERILE mask out of it’s STERILE package and put in on using ONLY the ear pieces. Then you DO NOT touch the front or inside of the mask. When you take the mask off you NEVER touch the outside or inside of the mask and you only touch the ear pieces. You fold the mask in half and DISPOSE of it in the proper container or if the mask is cloth you put it in a zip lock bag and WASH IT IN HOT WATER. After using your ONE TIME ONLY mask you need to wash or sanitize you hands. So masks being used by most people are FULL of bacteria, fungal spores and colonies, pollen grains, dirt, grime, spit and VIRAL PARTICLES. And to answer the question, NO, the mother was not correct about kicking her son out. I can see being upset that he LIED to her. And that deserves some punishment. I would have exiled him to the garage by putting a bed & his clothes out there and letting him sleep there and not interact with the family for two weeks to be sure he did not have the virus.
The kid is 19 years old! Old enough to take responsibility for his actions! And he lied? There should be no debate about this.
I’m afraid that I agree with her. He is untrustworthy, kick him out. If she has the means to help him financially that would be nice but her health and that of her other children should come first.
I have a problem with calling this irresponsible punk a kid or a child. Remember where you and my husband were and what you were doing at that age Nick? At 19 you guys were shouldered responsibilities that no “kid” could ever handle. Today young men and women that age are in combat. They are not kids any more than you guys were. If he were a drug addict would mom let him bring drugs into the house that could potentially harm her young children? Kick his a** to the curb and be done with him for the safety of everyone else in the family.
She did the right thing. He’s probably done it before and if not checked now, will do it again.
This unfortunate and serious scenario is likely repeating itself 100’0s of times every day.
I believe my wife’s and I actions would land somewhere in between Connie Brandishes and Roger Scotts suggestions.
At 19 hes no longer a “child” and has a functional sense of right and wrong and what is best for the greater good…..he choose to violate these principals.
We all learned some of life lessons the hard way.
I would have done the same.