Relax, I’m not about to bog you down with a long read, unless you’re desperate for anything to kill lockdown blues. Any of you remember how back in school one of the standard answers to “list five reasons why people smoke or drink” was to “kill time”? And I don’t know about you guys but I’d always write it down on my answer sheet with such confidence you’d think it was the smartest answer to a test question! Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, Covid-19 questions. I wish we had a 24/7 global hotline to address our random or even pressing queries, like why the vaccine prices aren’t likely to come down yet many developers and manufacturers benefited from non-profits, philanthropists and government funding? Also, why are there so many vaccines? Having multiple options seems like a good thing on the face of it but the world would be better served if all these labs worked together and came up with maybe one or two super vaccines. Instead, what we have are rushed attempts that aren’t as effective as they probably would be if the world’s brilliant minds put their heads together. I can’t believe pharmaceuticals are fretting over patents like they haven’t been making a killing, for lack of a better word, off other drugs and vaccines for decades! Please share whatever you know so all countries can copy and reproduce for their citizens. Less waiting time and shipping costs under the current arrangement and ultimately, less fatalities, duh? Moving on, now that almost everybody is working from home, aren’t all employers obligated to cover our rent? And lunch, power bill, Wi-Fi... Since home is the new office and we still need to sanitise or wash our hands, plus high speed internet for those Zoom chats, coffee and tea breaks? No? Oh course if I were the employer, I’d probably dismiss everybody’s claims and remind them that they were bound to pay their rent anyway! What about work hazards? Say a fire breaks out either because you passed out trying to finish an urgent report and forgot to turn the gas off or your chargers, power banks and other accessories overheated and exploded? How about if your devices just stop working or someone breaks into your house because burglaries are on the rise in some areas as everybody struggles to survive? Should the employer pay for repairs or replacements just as they would if the office were broken into? If you contract Covid-19 while working from home, do they cover your insurance and your family members’ in case you pass it on to them? If your child fails their current class, would you pay for them to retake or ‘repeat’ it next academic year? I think we all know that parent who would use that as the perfect excuse to avoid paying fees even though the poor kid would probably just have been stressed out and not adequately prepared for exams given the many challenges, distractions and uncertainties of the last school year. Does the IMF issue personal loans? Asking for a friend. Who am I kidding? Asking for myself! Seriously though, I think they should, or at least think about it!
