The day began with a giddy buzz among the teaching staff.
Eric the ag teacher greeted me in the hall. "Did you get a vaccine slot?" We compared appointment times, and I told him about feeling my phone buzz as I grabbed a cart at Walmart yesterday afternoon. Right there in the vestibule, I punched in my numbers and got a confirmation: Vaccine at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 5. I'd felt the sun breaking through the clouds.
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A few rooms down, I popped into math-teacher Sheila's room and asked if she'd scheduled her vaccine. We lifted coffee mugs to toast each other's success. Later she printed off her own required paperwork and brought me a copy as well.
My darling English colleague Emma was relieved I had an appointment; she said she was prepared to offer me her slot if I hadn't made the cut.
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Almost all of the teachers I work with had signed up and were able to get scheduled for this first round of the vaccine.
But at least a few didn't even try. They don't trust the vaccine, nor do they feel it is needed. They repeat COVID-hoax conspiracies and claim masks cause strep. They've asserted this stance in the presence of a colleague who lost her dad to COVID in December.
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I've learned over the years that friendships happen in a Venn Diagram overlap. Sometimes that overlap is small. I'm lucky to have a few friendships with considerable shared territory.
I get along with the COVID deniers well enough. We share book recommendations and compliment each other's shoes. We meet to discuss strategies for helping students. We laugh lightly about schoolish things. We bear each other no ill will.
But COVID lessons continue to unfold.
Observing how my colleagues respond to masking, science, vaccines, and distancing recommendations has broadened some of my Venn space with co-workers while narrowing it with others.
I'm not sure where I'm going with this. I might find the emotional energy to talk with my anti-vaccine colleagues one-on-one. If I do, I'll let you know.
I might also just move to the far edge of the hallway when we pass.
Enough.
Be well.
Write.
Allison
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