Letters
Posted September 12, 2021 at 10:58 am by Tim Dustrude
In the mailbag this morning we have this letter from Sasha von Dassow…
To the Editor:
9/11/21
At 6 am on the 20th anniversary of 9/11 we in the San Juan Islands are at a standstill because a few folks working in the state ferry system decided to stage a sick out in protest of the Washington State vaccine mandate. I run a small grocery shipping company and today we are supposed to bring bread, milk, produce and other goods for Friday Harbor residents, tourists, and school children (and their pets)- you know, We the People. There are probably 4 or 5 other trucks bigger than mine waiting in line too, the local school athletic team isn’t coming home from their away game, and folks coming to and leaving our island aren’t moving. Our marine highway is taken away by a few people not showing up to work at our public utility in protest of a vaccine mandate.
It’s not an inconvenience to wait for the ferry workers to make their point in the case of food- it is the system not working; it means spoiled food, price hikes, and people in danger of going hungry. Recently we have seen vivid proof that we only have about a 3 day supply of food on the islands at any given time with empty shelves at the stores due to supply line disruptions everywhere. It’s scary knowing that our food supply can stop arriving because of only a few people. And on the anniversary of 9/11, when so many people sacrificed so much to save what they could and honor what they couldn’t, when people died protecting their fellow citizens.
This isn’t about individual freedoms or politics or where one gets the news or who we choose to believe. It’s about survival, and the science is overwhelmingly in- vaccinations work and aren’t risky. Those of us who are vaccinated are living proof of that all around the world. To anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers- do you want to eat? Want a job? Need medical care? Need parts for your car? Does your kid need to go to school? Get vaccinated, wear a mask, and pat yourself on the back for doing your part as a citizen of the USA and the world, for helping to get our society working again.
If your answer remains “No, thanks”, please turn in your voter registration card, your passport, and your American flag. You don’t deserve to be a citizen of the USA anymore and you support the enemy, a virus. Like many of your neighbors, friends, and relatives, I am tired of having sand thrown in the gears of my life for your choices, and I think it’s time for you to act like real life patriotic Americans and get the job done. On the anniversary of 9/11 we should be trying to live up to the sacrifices of those who came before us, not wasting precious lives and time.
Sasha von Dassow
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Categories: Health & Wellness, Letters, Opinion, People
16 comments:
16 comments...
Thank you, Sasha, for your straightforward, no-nonsnese comments. Your well chosen words are echoed by many of us — but should be ALL of us.
Well said, thank you.
“Amen “to everything Sasha says. I really don’t understand where the anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers are coming from. I am very tired of the “ME_ME_ME” people.
Thank you Sasha for articulating what many of us feel about this selfish, destructive and illegal sick out. Those WSF workers who are vaccinated but give tacit support to this purposeful disruption of an already fragile ferry system need to re-evaluate and remember their promise to serve the public above themselves.
Well said.
“He knew what those jubilant crowds did not know but could have learned from books: that the plague bacillus never dies or disappears for good; that it can lie dormant for years and years in furniture and linen-chests; that it bides its time in bedrooms, cellars, trunks and bookshelves; and that perhaps the day would come when, for the bane and the enlightening of men, it would rouse up its rats again and send them forth to die in a happy city.”Albert Camus,
The Plague In other respects, too, the plague marked the beginning of a decline to greater lawlessness in the city. People were more willing to dare to do things which they would not previously have admitted to enjoying, when they saw the sudden changes of fortune, as some who were prosperous suddenly died, and their property was immediately acquired by others who had previously been destitute. So they thought it reasonable to concentrate on immediate profit and pleasure, believing that their bodies and their possessions alike would be short-lived. No one was willing to persevere in struggling for what was considered an honorable result, since he could not be sure that he would not perish before he achieved it. What was pleasant in the short term, and what was in any way conducive to that, came to be accepted as honorable and useful. No fear of the gods or law of men had any restraining power, since it was judged to make no difference whether one was pious or not as all alike could be seen dying. No one expected to live long enough to have to pay the penalty for his misdeeds: people tended much more to think that a sentence already decided was hanging over them, and that before it was executed, they might reasonably get some enjoyment out of life.So the Athenians had fallen into the great misfortune and were being ground down by it, with people dying inside the city and the land being laid waste outside. (II.vii.3-54)
Thucydides, The Plague of Athens
Brilliant! So well said. Thank you.
Dear Sasha,
You’ve stepped up, stepped out. Your voice is heard loud and clear and will be shared. Thank you!
Beatrice Carla Wright
Thank you for putting my thoughts exactly on this issue, in an eloquent straight to the point letter.
Bravo Sasha!
Sasha,
Spot on !
Thank you for this and all you do.
We’re proud to know the man that wrote the letter.His message should speak for us all. Our method of transportation is being held hostage by childish games. A few people in power should not be able to semi cripple our ability to move on and off of the island we’ve chosen to live on. As Sasha stated, the game that is being played by some of the ferry workers affect, delivery of food, doctors, dry goods, building materials, people’s ability to get to medical app. etc etc.
Thank you Sasha
Excellent letter Sasha. We need more real life patriots who will stand up and protect their fellow citizens instead of wallowing in ignorance and cruelty by putting their so called freedom in front of caring for the health of their community. Get vaccinated. Help keep all of us well and support the efforts by so many including nurses, doctors, drivers, suppliers, teachers and business owners to get us back to normal as soon as possible.
YES.
Thank you Sasha.
Exactly!!
Thank you Sasha, well said. Ferry workers notwithstanding, the same issue resonates throughout our society, i.e., selfish, hypocritical people putting their own “freedom” ahead of thinking of what the effect of their decisions have on everyone around them. I’d recommend they read this article from a somewhat unlikely source:
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/08/schwarzenegger-schmuck-mask-vaccines/619746/
If the ferry workers have such strong convictions about the mask/vax mandate they should go ahead and do a proper strike and sacrifice their jobs. We riders don’t even have to option to sacrifice our transportation by sea.
Thanks, Sasha. You the man.
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