[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by zendog3

When my wife and I left The Villages for Leesburg, I had a vague feeling of both dread and hope. We were both near 80 with “pre-existing conditions.” If Covid 19 got us, the odds are that one or both of us would die. In my car, I sensed relative security was only 20 minutes away.

The mall we went to is a seedy place. The Sears store where the shots were to be given would have been bustling 20 years ago. Now, with faded paint and pealing signs, the image was of an America in decline. The older adults, like us, making their way to the store, were gray and bald. Some walking. Some in wheelchairs or walkers.

Inside, the store bustled once again. Young men and women, firefighters, off-duty police, and nurses moved us from station, taking information, giving us our shots, and watching for reactions. These people were cheerful, and they exuded pride in their role in saving lives.

As we moved along, my gratitude for all the people that made this moment possible grew. The public health people at the CDC, the bureaucrats who hustled the science through, the scientists who broke records producing the vaccine in record time, and these people, going beyond to vaccinate so many strangers.

On the way home, my gratitude continued to grow. It extended to the businesses who enforce covid rules and to you. People who ignored the doubters. People who stayed inside and wore masks. You were protecting yourself. But you also recognized a responsibility to others.

All of us Americans working in concert saved my life. Thank you.

I have often wondered how during WWII, all Americans worked together to defeat a formidable enemy. I wondered if we still had that American spirit. I should have known. That spirit was working under my feet. I just failed to see it.

America is at war, and millions of Americans working as one are fighting and winning. This may sound patriotic. Maybe it is. A patriot is not a person who waves a flag. A patriot is a person who works together with his fellow man, acting as a single force for the good of all Americans. Patriots ignore the deniers and doubters.

I used to worry that we as a nation were too fractured to meet the challenges of a warming earth, deforestation, foreign enemies. I now feel confident that, with leadership that brings us together, rather than fracturing us along lines of race, religion, and ethnology, we can do anything that must be done.

Winston Churchill said something similar to the sentiments in this thread. Paraphrasing - Americans always do the RIGHT thing........after ALL other options are exhausted. This thread-starting author has some good writing and wordsmithing skills. But.....it seems to me to be colored by rose-colored glasses due to the euphoria of receiving a life-continuing CV shot, which increases the possibility of returning to a "normal life".

I can find some other , small, criticisms of the thread starter - mentioned was "warming earth" - it is unfortunate that, as shown by the disaster in Texas, that we (the 1st world countries that caused it) are past the point of controlling Global Warming (aka global weirding)! The part about. "all Americans working in concert" - this did NOT really happen. Just ask Bob Woodward. The proof is that the Australians and Europeans did MUCH better than us wonderful-"all Americans". The proof is that we are #1 in CV deaths. The part about "patriots are NOT doubters and deniers - Well, doubters and deniers still will consider themselves "patriots" because they have been well propagandized. It will take UNLEARNING of that propaganda before America can return to its universal Patriotism that existed after WW2. That may or may NOT happen in the future? And that part about "America fighting and winning the CV war" - well, that war is NOT yet over - you MAY (?) have won a battle for yourself temporarily - but, the CV enemy has yet to sign the peace treaty to end that war!..... On a lighter note ....Zendog is a GREAT forum handle! Keep writing!