I don’t deserve it. I honestly don’t. People think I am way more virtuous than I am. It doesnt’ bother me. . .much.
As you all know I have 13 children. That’s a large family even for Utah. There are some people who think that large families are a problem. They think the world is already overpopulated. Not only do they feel this way, they for some reason feel entitled to complain about it.
My dear mother-in-law had 15 children. She was a very reserved and “proper” woman. She related to me one time some of the horriible things random strangers would say to her.
You know what causes that right?
However, I don’t get any of those rude comments, nor does my lovely wife. In fact, I get a “pass” from those who complain about large families. In fact, I get more than a pass. The same people who would insult my dear mother-in-law express nothing but admiration for us.
See, of our 13 children, most are adopted. And they weren’t just adopted, they were adopted from some of the poorest countries in the world. We’ve adopted from Haiti, India, Colombia, China and the United States.
So, instead of overpopulating the planet, we get credit for “saving the world.” That’s not why we adopted. We adopted because we were only able to have a few birth children and we wanted a bigger family. Had we been able to have mroe birth children, I don’t know if we would have ended up with 13, but I’m sure we would have ended up with more than most people would have considered “proper.”
I’m not a saint. I’m not responsible for saving the world. I’m just a dad trying to do the best I can.
But, still some insist I’m much more virtuious than I am.
We are in the middle of this pandemic. This week we are starting to open up the country. And while things are getting better, we still have a long ways to go and need to continue to practice the best practices that have got us this far. That includes social distancing and wearing masks.
It’s been over two months an dmany people are sick. Not from the virus. They are sick of the virus and the restictions it places on us. We’ve started to see protests against continued stay-at-home orders. We’ve started to see businesses opening up in defiance of government directives. And we’ve started to see people protest wearing a mask.
I have to admit, I wear a mask. I wear it everytime I go into a store or I’m going to be around anyone who is not my immediate family. I also wear nitrile gloves when I’m out. Fortunately, as a sometimes mechanic, I had several boxes of them. I understand that gloves are only effective while you are in a store. I use a new pair of gloves everytime I go into a different store.
Oh, and I don’t wear the mask and gloves in the car. That’s not really necessary.
And we have the counter-protests as well. We have those who object to people not wearing a mask. Objecting is fine. It crosses the line when people take it on themselves to enforce social distancing or mask rules.
So, I look like I’m pretty compliant, right. I must be on the side of those who want to force the world to wear a mask.
I’m not as virtuous as I get credit for. I have someone at my house that is immunocompromised. If she caught the Coronavirus, she might die. So all my masking, my wearing gloves, my social distancing? I’m not doing it for you. I’m actually more libertarian than liberal. I’m wearing a mask for selfish reasons.
So, those who want people to wear masks, think I’m on their side. And those who don’t want to wear masks, give me a pass.
I’m not nearly as virtuous as people think I am.
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
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