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On taking leave of your senses

How many more cases do we need before people figure out that Covid can only be fought when foot soldiers like you and I join the war.

Some repeat news items boggle the mind in that the lesson is never learned. Certainly, the death by speed is right up there and defies logic at any level. Every day someone surrenders his life to that absurd thrill or becomes a victim of that desire to take on the odds.
Then there are drug smugglers. All too often you hear of them being caught at points of entry with what they think are ingenious ways of concealing the contraband. Haven't they got the message? You will be caught. That is a given. The system is good enough to catch the smartest of you, so do not bring narcotics into the country. And yet, contrary to all evidence, they still want to give it a shot.
Another unfortunate story that appears in the news columns refers to adults groping women or children. If you find the word 'groping' unpleasant then molesting is even worse. What were they thinking? How did they conclude they would manage to get away with unspeakable acts? Similarly, what about those who threaten to blackmail people they have a liaison with by threatening to put their photographs on a social platform. How do you work it out in your mind that this third rate and tacky approach will not backfire?
Pointless violence especially in the blue-collar category is another staple story and while the claustrophobia and the loneliness can accentuate physical rage when it comes to injury and even death what prompts them to carry on regardless, knowing full well they will not get away with it.
As naive it is to think they will as a domestic help who steals from his/her employer's house and hopes to make a financial killing. He or she will not even make it to the door and yet, they do it. These random examples are a forerunner to a current issue that demands attention. It begins with people who do not seem to understand the meaning of don't.do not misuse social platforms. If you put something on it that is derogatory, inflammatory or against the law in any way it is going to be traced back to you and there will be severe consequences. What part of this is not understood.
In the past few days we have been hearing of establishments being closed down because they have not followed the basic Covid-19 rules. For days the ones who run these places have been reading of hefty fines being levied on defaulters who think the virus is a bit of a lark and does not concern them. And yet every day we hear of someone still sticking to their spiked guns and breaking the commands.
What sort of person or management takes this foolish a chance and regrets it then at leisure?
Go another step. If you took it upon yourself to mess with your safety and that of others by organising a celebration and you got away with it in that nobody reported it then just be quiet and hope that your selfishness has not harmed anyone. But then to go public with your fun and share it with the world is far more than asking for trouble, it is begging for it besides being crass in the extreme.
Why would you do that?
How many more cases do we need before people figure out that Covid can only be fought when foot soldiers like you and I join the war and drop the arrogance that in some fashion we are sort of absolved and will not be vulnerable to it. -bikram@khaleejtimes.com