Vaccination Queue

“You think you are the only one waiting for your turn? Be quick man, or just get out of the way. A line one person short is better.”

“Nah. There is plenty of time to debate this. Look, there are at least 20 people before us who decided to show up unregistered. By my calculation, we will be here at least for an hour and a half. That is if we don`t give up before our turn comes. The thing is, I am still in a bit of conundrum, you see.”

“You can run your mind, all you like, but I am pretty sure what I am going to do. Get a jab, pick up beer, go home and binge watch a series.”

“Wish my life was so simple buddy, I have a bloody processor in my head that just keeps throwing question after question at me.”

“Like what, if I may ask?”

“What are our chances of survival if and when this thing gets over. What will become of us?”

“Man you should pray or meditate or something. Just keep these doubts out of your head. Let the vaccine do its job and put your faith in God.”

“Well you see, you are deeply rooted in belief. You let the society decide for you what is best. You worship the Gods your parents have worshiped, without question. You follow the routine you have been taught.”

“I thought vaccination was a question of science, not belief. You think I received a visit from Gods before I decided to come here to get vaccinated? It has been spoken of everywhere man, on TV, the internet, newspapers. Hell, even my family message group that only talked about politics and religion earlier has started updating everyone on benefits of vaccination. It is a matter of science man. They have tested these vaccines. Take the jab and you are done.”

“No. Not done. You see the best vaccines today have an efficacy of less than 95 percent. If we are in that other 5 percent bracket, and we are not genetically immune, what happens then? What about further mutations? How long have we monitored long term effects of our defenses, I ask.”

“Man what kind of negative thinking is this? You are starting to sound like those conspiracy theorists who claim we will all turn into zombies soon. You see many are just dying in this outbreak out of fear. Just because they don`t have a positive outlook towards life. And now they blame the government for it.”

“Buddy that`s exactly it. You see. You have still not broken away from the drip of mass opinion that has been copiously injected into your head. You think you are here because you believe in science but you are again following what you have been told. You sit before TV news channels that shout propaganda at you; you read editorials that are paid in kind by our dearest autocrat. Your primary social responsibility in your spare time, handed down to you through a chain of highly placed overlords, is breeding this misinformation with other thoughts in your head, and passing the spawn to us.” 

“Okay. Okay. So let me get this. You assume that I haven`t read about vaccinations and I am here only because I have been told or influenced to do so. Right?”

“Partially yes. You were made to believe masks were a cure for this. You have seen countless people bashed into submission as they struggled to survive. You have lost this battle long ago my friend. Still, you are here displaying the same blind optimism towards science that you have maintained towards religion. You believe in shutting out doubt; you believe in not questioning decisions; you are superstitious again, not about religion but this time but about science.”

“You are right man. I don`t question my upbringing at all. After all we have survived till now. We have lived here since ancient times, survived and thrived I must add. We will survive this. Have some faith.”

“Survival is more a question of numbers. It is not about a man praying with folded hands and living through this. There are many before us who haven`t and there will be some of us who won`t.”

“I am sure I will. One, I exercise regularly; two, I have no diseases so far; three, I am here for vaccination; four, I wake up and pray to God; five. I can keep going if you want. I am sure I will survive this.”

“I think the certainty with which you lead your life is flawed. Your decision making is black and white. You take whatever stimulus you receive from your environment and make it into a binary picture. You don`t see the merit in dilemma.”

“Wow. This is getting personal real fast. From societal programming, directly to my flawed mental process. Great.”

“No. This is not personal at all. You see, we are all supposed to behave so confident; the leadership material that makes the first choice, the right choice. And debate it as the right one with all our mental faculties.”

“You reckon, it would be best to leave things hanging to the last minute then?”

“No, on the contrary I believe in preparation based on facts. To live with possibilities and leave space for doubt.”

“You think the masses are ready for that kind of information overload? You think people would be able to decide anything if they thought about things that much? You think beggars and thieves can decide?”

“I think the problem is more fundamental than that.”

“Preach us your highness. I am craving that beer right now.”

“We are taught to live in a world of right and wrong. We live in a world where the stories are told in audience friendly popular structures, virtuous superheroes defeating evil villains. We are taught moral and ethical lessons in easily digestible parables, victory of good over bad.”

“It must be lonely place up there. Do come down sir.”

“Sure. Let us all go back to our emotional opioids.”

“Tell me again genius, if you are so sure that the vaccine does not work why are you even standing in this line?”

“I never said I does not work. I just want to be informed of choices I am making, that`s all. We have made such choices in the past also, when we started taking antibiotics, we took medications peddled as magic cures. Some of them worked, no doubt we have saved countless lives, but it is only later we have realized the cost.”

“To take vaccine or not to, is the question then.”

“Take man take. Right now, what choice do we have. Looks like the queue is moving fast.”

“That was quick; very quick; suspiciously quick.”

Loudspeaker announcement: We are out of stock. I repeat there are no more vaccines left, we are out of stock. Please book a slot for vaccination online and avoid long queues. Download now In God we trust the official online app.

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