My thoughts on the "We don't know what's in it but we still take it" argument

I started writing this as a Facebook post but the more I wrote the more I realized it was too long and decided to post it as a blog. I’m sure many won’t read it but I feel the need to get it out. You may assume my status on the COVID vaccine or vaccines in general. It has no place in the counterargument I am trying to make and I will not make a statement on thoughts either way. I have heard various arguments for the COVID. Below are screenshots of an argument for the COVID vaccine I’ve seen several times over the past weeks. Usually I would ignore it because I usually operate under the “Live and Let Live” motto and it's too much of a hot-button topic that I don’t want or need the debate. However, I saw it the other day and I couldn’t ignore it any longer. 

I am sick and tired of the “we don’t know what’s in (blank) but we still take it” argument. It is a weak and largely unfair statement. Yes, there are people who eat and drink, take medicines without really knowing what is in them. However, I know a lot of people that do know what’s in their food, their medicines and their soaps, etc. If something goes in, on or around the body, there are groups of people who do their research because they 1) do care and read the ingredient lists and 2) have to care because of various food allergies and sensitivities to chemicals. There is a reason why food and other products list their ingredients. There’s a reason why possible ingredients related to food allergies and sensitivities are listed boldly on food labels. There’s a reason we have sensitive bath soaps, free and clear laundry soaps and bleach free household cleaners. There’s a reason why organic and non-GMO foods have grown in popularity. 

To bring up tattoo ink, vaping, and Botox doesn’t add to their argument either. While these things have grown in popularity, it doesn’t mean that everyone who has tattoos doesn't know what’s in the ink. It doesn’t mean that everyone who vapes doesn’t know what’s in it. The same goes with Botox. There are people who may have done their research and, for good or bad, have decided to get a tattoo, start vaping or get Botox. There are people who refuse to eat food that someone else has prepared. Yes, there is research out there about the long term effects of mobile phone use. The fact that someone hasn’t looked into it and uses a cell phone doesn’t mean that everyone else hasn’t either.

There may be several reasons why someone is hesitant or outright refusing the COVID vaccine. Yes, it could be political. And yes, they can be strictly anti-vaccine. It could be the mandate. Or they could simply be following medical advice. However, a number of people just want more information. I don’t understand how someone who does their due diligence before buying a car or house would be considered a smart consumer. But for someone who wants more information about a medical vaccine, they are anti-vaxx and anti-science. The “because I said so” argument doesn’t work. The “just trust me” response doesn’t sit well with some people especially when the government hasn’t given them much reason to trust them. 

If you decide to eat, drink or use anything without knowing what's in it, then any effects, good or bad, is on you. If you decided to get the vaccine with the information at hand, then good for you. However, it does not give you the right to judge, to shame, to antagonize or vilify those who have not got the vaccine because they wish to know what's in it.

Wish You Were Here: a story of personal evolutions

Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult is a story about the unexpectedness of life and finding what you didn’t know you wanted. Diana O’Toole was the track to her perfect life. She would be married by 30 and have her children by 35, then they would move to the New York suburbs. Of course, she will climb the professional ladder in the cutthroat world of art auctions. She is an associate specialist at Sotheby’s and certainly on her way to a promotion, if she could just close a deal with a high-profile client. She’s not engaged yet but she’s certain that her boyfriend, Finn, a surgical resident, is close to proposing. Probably on their vacation getaway to the Galapagos. But when the COVID-19 hits New York City and on the eve of their departure, Finn announces that it's all hands on deck at the hospital. He can’t leave but there’s no reason Diana can’t go. Why waste their non refundable trip? So, she goes. Immediately, the trip goes south and she finds herself on lockdown on the island. Slowly, she connects with a local family. As Darwin formed his theory of evolution by natural selection in the Galapagos Islands, Diana finds herself examining herself and wonders if she will be the same person when she gets home? 

After I read Ms. Picoult’s latest release, The Book of Two Ways, I was hesitant to read Wish You Were Here. But I decided to give her another chance as she is usually good for an emotional, thought provoking story. Unfortunately, Wish You Were Here fell flat for me. There was no emotional impact. I understand where the author was going with the thought provoking idea of personal evolutions. I didn’t feel any connection to Diana and her story development was predictable. I didn’t care for her high profile client, Kitomi Ito and her husband Sam, which was a very barely-disguised copy of Yoko Ono and John Lennon. I didn’t enjoy the political digs and while the author makes no effort to hide her political stance in any of her books, I felt the political digs were overly done. Overall, Wish You Were Here isn’t the Jodi Picoult story I am used to or expected. Although I should have listened to my hesitation after my experience with The Book of Two Ways. As with most of her books, there is a twist that “you shouldn’t see coming” but this one really angered me and soured the book even more for me. I feel writing about COVID while we are still living in the pandemic was a bad move. 

Wish You Were Here will be available November 30, 2021 in hardcover, eBook and audiobook.