It has been a difficult fall. Tragedy has seemed always with us like a malevolent shadow. The second wave of H1N1, a spectral partner to the already numerous threats to the safety, security and wellness of our clients. H1N1 brought with it an urgency in the potential for sickness, suffering, loss. We are not strangers to these, but it was another confirmation of our human fragility. We worked from early months to prepare ourselves for what pandemic might bring with every effort extended to ensure our readiness to prevent, to treat, to care. But fall also brought with it a reminder of human failings.
Some weeks ago, with the advent of H1N1 vaccination programs, it became public knowledge that homeless shelter clients would be given priority in receiving vaccinations. Public response came quickly and bluntly. One citizen of Calgary wrote of her feelings in a letter to the Editor of the Calgary Herald stating that:
“In providing vaccine to shelter residents we have missed a golden opportunity to end homelessness.”
At another moment in time I might have dismissed this for what I hope it represents – a frightened, frustrated person lashing out at the weakest target in the midst of public panic about the (mis)handling of pandemic planning by those charged with this power.
In the context of these past months I read this instead as a condemnation. Condemnation of the powerless for being just that – powerless and poor and an unsightly roadblock on the path to progress where all evidence of our human failings will be erased. What callous abuse of the power of words. What sad reminder that some among us would even jest about the notion of death as a solution. That the remarkable people I spend my days among are so reviled. That the right to be spared illness or suffering is reserved for those who meet some mythical standard of human worth.
Very powerful!!