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OPINION
Monrovia Old Town report: A Mayberry-good place to be By Shawn Spencer
Send your letters to tmiller@beaconmedianews.com - Please be brief.
Re: “17 Cedars-Sinai vaccine protestors must arbitrate claims” (Aug. 4 issue)
shawn@girlfridaysolutions.net
D
o you remember when COVID-19 first appeared in the news in December 2019? It was such a curious thing, and many of us did not know what to make of it. By the time everything officially shut down in March 2020, the mixed emotions were palpable. Some were immensely fearful, perhaps due to their age, the age of their family or underlying health conditions. Others were moderately fearful, while some completely disregarded the warnings as quackery, lies and a way for the government to control us. The world turned pretty bleak for a lot of people. Many were isolated and felt the impact of that to their core. Others used the time to learn new crafts or begin a new hobby. Some of us just gained weight, or as I like to call it, the COVID-Tighteen. For those of you who have kids, boy, was that fun! Trying to work at home while one daughter had Spanish class and the other had Zoom PE made me crazy. I’m not going to lie, there was some day drinking involved but I kept it classy with Mimosas. All kidding aside, it’s not often that I find myself at a loss for words, but I am now. When you can’t be with someone you hold dear as they take their last breath, or when you think that your husband is being released the next day from the hospital, but suddenly and inexplicably, he dies…when you know that the person you love was all alone. There are no words for that. It was a dark time. People were so mean to each other, both on social media and in public. There were few that were calm throughout the pandemic. They did their best to keep people on an even keel in our local Facebook groups. Others were downright hateful. “Wear your mask!!” “Get
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In my opinion, resistance to vaccination based on religious beliefs is only a selfserving notion that has killed many folks and continues to place others at risk. Lawyers representing the Cedars-Sinai employees who refused the COVID-19 vaccine said in their suit: “The sincerity of an employee’s stated religious belief is usually not in dispute and is generally presumed or easily established.” How, may I ask, can the sincerity of anyone’s religious beliefs be either presumed or easily established? On the contrary, no one will ever be able to know for certain whether another person’s belief is sincere, for the simple reason that beliefs can’t be detected. A glaring example: Jean Meslier was an 18th-century French Catholic priest who, for 30 years, devoted his life to his pastoral duties. Yet, when he confessed in his last will and testament that he was a clandestine atheist, no one had ever doubted his religious sincerity. Let’s also think of the
Person Holding A Vaccine. | Photo Courtesy of Cottonbro/ Pexels.
many times men and women have convinced someone of their sincere love, only to help themselves to their money. And if, as the plaintiffs’ lawyers insist, “vaccinated individuals spread Covid-19 just as unvaccinated individuals,” why have most of the deaths occurred in parts of the country where resistance to the vaccine is highest? I only wish those who use religion to have their way could accept the cardinal doctrine of all religions that one’s duty is to protect life — and that our Constitutionally guaranteed “liberty” doesn’t include the liberty to endanger the health of others. As Justice Robert Jackson once famously observed, “The Constitution is not a suicide pact.” David Quintero Monrovia
The entrance of Old Town Monrovia, located on Myrtle Avenue. | Courtesy photo.
vaccinated!” “You are so selfish.” “You’re all sheep.” “It’s a hoax!” “Follow the science.” “This is just the [insert political party here], trying to distract us!” Then you had the racists that really dumbed it down for a lot of people. Recently, I took my daughter to the ER and found it interesting that they brought back the Covid protocols. Yet, no one was there for/with symptoms. We all had to wait outside until we were cleared to enter the waiting room. Hats off to doctors, nurses and all hospital staff. It takes a special type of person to do the work they do so tirelessly. Well, I’m sure they are exhausted, but they still
show up for us. With the current fluctuation in COVID cases, I am so happy to say that I see peace in Monrovia. I see people with masks and people without and no one is complaining about either option. Now that we survived the original crises, people are trusting others to know what their bodies need to be healthy and/or feel safe. I am obviously not a doctor, but it seems like this new version or latest strain is just the flu. The flu is always dangerous for some, and the principle of caution should always prevail for them. I authored this entire article just to say how happy I am that our city has [mostly] returned to its former glory
of peace, kindness and generosity. Lastly, it was brought to my attention that I made an error in my Old Town Report, published on July 26. I ended a paragraph about Sashary Zaroyan with “I know a lot of us are looking forward to seeing more from her.” Well, I’m not sure what Sasha’s pronouns are, but I meant to type “he.” I apologize for the faux pas. Easy mistake for me because my daughter is named Sasha. The funny thing is, when I went to look at my original copy sent in for publication, my copy read “seeing more from you.” I am not sure whose error it is (except I know it’s not mine, wink wink). Either way, my sincere apologies.
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