Letters to the editor for Aug. 22
Truth or consequences
An unvaccinated man sits in the critical care unit with COVID and says, “The government is not going to force a vaccine down my throat.” What do you say to a person like that to encourage them to get a vaccine shot? I say, “Believe what you want, but you may rest in peace for it.”
The government is reemphasizing the importance of getting vaccinated to protect the Delta variant strain that’s attacking the unvaccinated. But government is not responsible for your health choices or what information you believe.
If you get vaccinated, you have a huge statistical advantage to not ending up in the hospital.
But what government calls misinformation isn’t misinformation to many.
Some don’t believe in taking vaccines or the benefits of getting vaccinated. And no amount of data is going to convince them otherwise. Not even when they’re on ventilators in critical care units.
Some will not believe scientific information no matter how much information the government puts out. You can place “Danger! Thin ice” signs around lakes, and some folks are going to walk out.
We have come a long way from smoking is harmless to smoking causes heart disease and cancer. Both were the number one killers until the Delta strain showed up, and now it’s a horse race — with death being the winner.
Think about all that so-called misinformation. Freedom of choice has its own repercussions and methods for sorting out and separating whose beliefs missed their mark or were spot on.
David Cahill, Olympia
Losing my health insurance
I will be losing my health insurance at the end of the month. Mind you, I was only informed of this midway through this month.
There are very few non-contracted, full-time employees working for a single school district. I happen to be one of them, and as such am covered by the School Employees Benefits Board (SEBB) health benefits. Thank you Washington legislature of a few years back.
Substitute teaching over 1,000 hours for the Olympia School District far exceeds the required hours to be included in their health plan. But due to the extraordinary 2020-2021 school year, I doubt any substitute teacher worked the required 630 hours.
All through this past year, I would pay for my employee contribution to the plan, asking payroll each time if the district has decided how to keep me covered. “No decision has been made” was their reply each time. “Surely they would not string me along until my benefits were about to end, and then just push me off a cliff” was my thought each time. But that is what has happened.
Throughout the state, I’m sure we are a small cohort, getting good health care by restricting our services to one district. This legislature, however, didn’t feel it necessary to address such a small constituency’s issue, even though it could have been remediated relatively inexpensively. I don’t know if putting these substitutes under a district contract is the answer. Or if there is some discretionary fund through OSPI... What is the right answer?
Stephen Mazepa, Olympia
An estuary? No thanks
Walking with an out-of-town relative in the future:
Her: So glad to finally visit! Olympia is your Capitol, right?
Me: Yep. And it is a beautiful city.
Her: But, well, what is this in the air? Smells funny.
Me: Oh. Look to your left. That would be our Capitol City Estuary.
Her: Hmm. Is it always, um, this way?
Me: Oh no. It sometimes has water.
Her: And when empty it’s what we used to call tideflats?
Me: Capitol City Estuary sounds better.
Karen Strand, Lacey