Being Patient versus Becoming A Patient

"I am patient with stupidity, but not with those who are proud of it." - Edith Sitwell

Having patience shouldn't make me feel like I'm slowly losing my mind. I have a short temper but because I'm able to rein it in most people are unaware. My patience has lead to my mental instability in a lot of ways and this country-wide panic is not helping.

I am in no way saying we shouldn't take seriously the threat of the Corona Virus. It is a serious issue, after all. Everyone should care about one's health, but this doesn't mean we don't have responsibility to others.

We have a moral responsibility to think rationally in this time of crisis. Hording necessities is bad enough without it causing the rest of the nation to Panic Shop. There are elderly people going without basic necessities. There are parents trying to buy the right foods for their children only to have to go without because people are stupidly allowing their panic and anxiety to overrule their sense. 

I went to the store to buy groceries, list in hand, only to get none of the items I needed for the week. I wanted exactly 1 box of ramen noodles for my 2 children. I go through that much over the course of a single month but the entire stock was gone. I was going to get cereal - gone. In the end, because everyone else is losing their minds, I bought bananas and saltine crackers. Needless to say, I am going to a different market today in the hopes other businesses exercised rationale in the face of our society's catastrophizing. 

I wish everyone the good sense to exercise self-restraint and ethical conscience in this disaster of human stupidity.