Covid, and becoming Hikikomori

"Because most in our society are social and relational, to be sequestered in or around your house last summer - sucked."

Always on the lookout for new and exciting words to spice up my lexicon, this weekend I came upon a doozie. It is a word of Japanese origin called hikikomori. What is it, you might wonder? I could simplify things by saying hikikomori is becoming a super hermit. Living in a way which shuns going out and/or being with others. Sound familiar? Sounds like what happened to many of us last summer. 

Here is how I see it. I have talked to many folks who want to have one of the three available vaccines. Not only want them, are anxious to get the shot(s) over with. Why? Many are (or were) very social people who all of sudden in March of 2020, became hermits. Became immersed in kind of a hikikomori daze.

It first started in March, when we found out the China virus had made it all the way to Minnesota. It grew teeth with the "stay at home" order the Governor issued shortly thereafter. All we knew of this brand new virus, was it could make you very sick, or even kill you. The Governor's "stay at home" order confirmed that to many. Masks, Lysol wipes, safe distances, hand washing and so forth, had a bunch of formally normal people acting anything but normal.

Because most in our society are social and relational, to be sequestered in or around your house last summer - sucked. Some ignored the government imposed caution, and came out of last summer just fine. Some got infected with Covid, and it was like a mild dose of the flu. Others became infected and ended up being "long haulers", spending weeks or months in the hospital, or home bed rest. And yes, some even died.

Forgetting the politics of getting vaccinated or not, what is it which causes people to drive hundreds of miles (outstate), to get a shot which has many who receive it - feeling lousy? My answer - it's the social thing. The grandparent thing. The family thing. The not want to be even close to the hikikomori thing. Not even close to living like a hermit, ever again. 

Get a shot, don't get a shot. We all need to be practicing Libertarians on this issue. I never have, nor ever will, chide anyone for getting vaccinated, or not getting vaccinated. Not my business. My wife and I had to make our own decisions, as did our two adult daughters. What drove our decision? We wanted no more Hikikomori, as well as other factors. It really is as simple as that.