Distorted Vacation/Vaccination

Thanks to the pandemic, schools’ “summer vacation” now falls on the wet season. This now places us all in the dilemma of whether to still call it a summer vacation or rainy season vacation, wet season vacation, or simply “vacation”. (Actually, the idea of April and May being summer is a tradition imposed by the American colonizers, because those months are not actually “summer”. Because if we go through “summer”, then we’d be going through fall, winter and spring as well. In our part of the globe, it’s dry or wet, but hot and humid in most of a year. So, in the first place, “summer vacation” has been inappropriate label all along.) The students and the school community even wonder if they could still refer to it as a “vacation”, since classes ended sometime at the end of June; and enrollment are set to begin at the last week of July, and classes start again on August 22. (We’re talking about public schools here.) Well, I guess three weeks is still some sort of vacation. A month and a half is still some sort of a vacation.

On the other hand, some private schools have gone ahead and started a new school year while the public schools are not yet done with the previous one. Some would be starting a little earlier than August 22. What I don’t get is if the classes started on September due to complications of the Covid-19, would not it be simply logical to end after ten months, then start again on the next September? Don’t classes of the next school year start again after around two months? Now, what used to be synchronized is all so slanted. Some go ahead of others. Some run behind. It’s all distorted now. Not only that, learning setups have mutated in different forms. Some struggle to return to the traditional face-to-face classes. Some are experimenting on a mestizo of the in-person and online or modular learning. Maybe, to avoid this confusion, one just needs to focus himself on his/her chosen path, and not mind the other similar lanes.

Yet, some have decided to stay put in the virtual interactions. If you think about it, online classes offer a great deal of convenience. Schools get to cut utility expenses. They don’t have to maintain lights, air conditioning units, computers for all students and all other logistics which necessitate maintenance in large conferences. Teachers and administrators could operate from home, ridding themselves of burdens of preparation of clothing, braving the rush hour traffic, cost of transport fare or gasoline, and other worries of physical reporting. So, in the name of pure pragmatism, why push for in-person interactions, when the past two years have seen a development of an efficient and creative system of online operations? Could it be that people just want to revert back to what was once customary because of superficial and emotional comforts that would be proven immaterial and unnecessary in the tests of efficiency and effectiveness? Why do shirts have collars? Why do we wear neck ties? Why do we wear slacks that extend to cover the entire legs? What practical purpose do they serve? Why do we even wear them in humid tropical climate? Maybe we just want to practice some manners because they have been culturally and contemporarily traditional, and vaguely valuable. Maybe we subscribe to this traditions simply because of its popularity and not so much because of their qualities.

There sweeps an Egregious anxiety/apprehension among the populace of the looming mandate of third dose of anti-Covid-19 vaccine. Some people can’t seem to sit straight and start to sweat at the thought of a booster shot being a requirement. So, you think you’ve been completely vaccinated. Maybe soon, you won’t be anymore. Because a complete dose could mean the inclusion of a booster shot. (These shots have been rolled out since late last year.) Recipients of the shot are allegedly believed to experience allergic reactions, develop health problems or even death. Anecdotes tell of headaches, asthma attacks (for persons who did not have asthma in the first place)unexplained weakness and sudden succumbing to death. It is interesting how urban legends and old wive’s tales persist and half-accepted even among the ranks of the educated. Whatever happened to the zombies that have been transformed by the vaccines? Whatever happened to vaccinated people who have the 666 mark of the Beast? Whatever happened to the wave of depopulation supposedly caused by inoculation? Once again, we are stuck between popularity and quality. It seems that we do not learn, or we do not want to learn.

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should…” Psalm 32:8