Editor:
I just got a notice from Charcoal canceling my reservation there tonight. I was very impressed that they left both a voicemail and a text. That’s both courteous and careful.
It seems that there has been enough exposure to COVID that Charcoal very rightly is closing until further notice, for the care of both servers and customers, very praiseworthy.
At the same time, several of my friends have come down with COVID. Well-vaccinated and boosted, they describe the experience as being like a bad cold, and over in a week; but they’re also young and basically healthy, while I’m old and in good health “for my age.”
So I’m doubling my precautions, masking when in indoor public areas, trying to respect distancing, appreciating others who do — but at the same time enjoying the weather and the outdoors!
There seems to be a lot of COVID going around, and the new variants appear to be more transmissible and potentially harder to deal with — it’s unclear whether the vaccines we have will be as effective with the new variants.
So let’s exercise due caution, respect those who mask and/or may have health issues that make them more vulnerable. And let’s enjoy that sun!
And thanks to Charcoal for acting with such care — get well, and reopen soon!
Nathaniel Brown
Edmonds
I have been impressed by Charcoal at every turn, they run a great restaurant in our community. Thank you for sharing this, and getting
me to tune in a bit more to how much things are escalating again currently.
The problem is not even knowing you have Covid!
We came back from a trip that involved air travel, wore masks in the airport and on the plane, and one of us came down with very light Covid while I tested positive and have NO symptoms at all. I’m sure that being vaccinated and boosted helped, but it’s scary to think I could have been passing Covid around without even realizing it! Please get vaccinated to stop the spread, for now wear a mask in indoor public places, and avoid crowds when possible for the sake of others. Variants won’t reproduce if we’re all vaccinated.
I completely agree. My husband and I got covid three weeks ago, he had it first from (?) as he wears a mask most places but was with a group of children inside eating ice cream. He was affected most with a very bad cough, I had a lighter reaction. I think with BA-5 covid out there we must be more aware of masking up.
I suspect this has little to do with broadly protecting the public and more to do with the fact they probably have a very small bench of workers if anyone gets ill because there is an extreme national worker shortage in just about every sector (for a myriad of reasons). Obviously kudos if they need to close down to protect the health and safety and sanity of their workers – and also protecting their ongoing financial viability – but again, highly suspect it is more than that. Unless you have been living under a rock, the national sentiment around Covid generally is we have done everything we can and it is time to move on. And, unless you are highly, highly vulnerable to this disease, it is probably better long term for personal and collective sanity to adopt that mentality. As the author mentions, respect those who need to do extra things to make themselves safer (or have the perception of being safer), but Covid is endemic; attempting to never in any circumstance get it or anything else for that matter would require you to never leave your house. Note my position: vaccinated, boosted, did “all the things” when they were required… still had Covid. And, I have had at least two other “normal” sicknesses thanks to my children in that time that were far, far worse than anything I experienced with Covid. Assess your risks and live your life!
In response to the previous letter, those who think that we’re back to normal with Covid are the ones living under a rock. It’s not about not getting it yourself if you are vaccinated and boosted, but about passing it on and hurting those who may be vulnerable. Part of the worker shortage is that workers are getting Covid. Those not vaccinated are a source for mutations that continue and continue. Even “normal” sicknesses to children can at times be avoided, as can some sicknesses under study over a long period of time. Living a life is not only assessing your own risks but the risks to those around you, and listening as science identifies findings. A pandemic is a new development and finding answers is not quick or easy, and instant gratification, while a part of our culture, is not admirable by many in this country or by people around the
world.
Let’s continue to care for ourselves, for those around us, for our community, and yes, even others in the world. Thanks to the many who do just that!
Hi Theresa – to clarify, I said “the national sentiment” is that Covid is over. I did not characterize that I personally think Covid itself is not a threat, merely that people need to make their own risk assessments. Mine for instance are ensuring I continue to have gainful employment, my kids go to school, and we have interactions that give my family both physical and mental health. For me a lot of that is trying to live my life as normally as I can. Thanks for responding respectfully even though we probably don’t agree on some of this.