I want to never say certain words after this year. This is not a confessional of the sin of profanity, though the words almost feel like they are dirty. No, these words are more sinister, the kind that keep you up at night, worried about those you love.
One of these new disheartening words is “pandemic,” a word both anachronistic and futuristic, describing millions of people killed over 100 years ago and perhaps even more people lost generations from now, as depicted in Hollywood movies. An unseen indiscriminate, microscopic, infectious agent that thrives in human bodies has ravaged our world, leaving grief and sorrow in its wake.
Meanwhile, to combat the illness, there is no medicine. One prevention is “social distancing,” two words I never before used next to one another in a sentence. The words themselves seem in conflict, suggesting we fellowship by separating.
This odd phrase is often used today with the words, “face mask,” a personal protective equipment common to health professionals and little league baseball players. Little did I know that when I bought a N95 mask last year to work in a dry field, that facial covering would become a hot commodity.
Now, likely every person I know has said the words “face mask” multiple times through a stifling uncomfortable material with elastic bands that cut into the back of their ears. We wear these devices to avoid the contagion that is so widespread that governments and private corporations are implementing research called “contact tracing.” If you asked me what those words meant in February, I might have guessed it had something to do with new technology to locate misplaced contact lenses.
Some words have taken on new meaning. When prisoners rioted, their warden might impose a “lockdown,” confining all inmates to their cells indefinitely. Who knew that the free world in the midst of a pandemic would be subjected to a government “lockdown,” home confinement with puzzles and Netflix?
Likely not a soul in “Wuhan” has heard of Hattiesburg, but you would be hard pressed to find a Hattiesburger who has not heard of or uttered the word “Wuhan.”
This word discussion leads me to one final grouping of letters. I almost do not want to write the word, because it conjures fear, anxiety, anger, and many other unpleasant emotions. It’s more of a living thing now, like a creature. We now often use the word “the” in front of the word. Here you go: “The COVID.“ So, I’ll conclude by using all the words in one sentence, a cathartic exercise of stress relief.
In Wuhan, an illness known as COVID originated, becoming a pandemic, requiring people to wear face masks, socially distance, and even lockdown their communities while governments used contact tracing to identify the sick and limit the rate of infections.
Done. I don’t want to say these words anymore. I’m sick of everyone getting sick. Do your part, please, and above all, be safe out there.
Clark Hicks is a civil litigation attorney and Hattiesburg resident. Write him at clark@hicksattorneys.com.
