7.
“My family is in the south of Spain. These are my uncles and aunt, my mom’s siblings. They’ve never left home and never had a job, and are in their fifties now, so they’ve always had their issues, they’ve always parroted my grandpa’s very outdated views, but it remained ‘conservative’ and at least not totally racist and unhinged. Then, a combo of the pandemic and more far-right parties emerging (a Nazi part named Vox) have made them go balls deep into the QAnon rabbit hole (while in Spain!). They say COVID is fake, and all vaccines are bad, things about 5G (while being addicted to their phones), and even stuff about pizza pedophiles or how Trump will save them all (again, while never having left Spain).”
“At first, I would try to reason with them, especially my aunt who has a heart transplant. I know she used to love and trust her doctors, so i asked her what do they say. But she just changed the subject. I’ve told them that Trump would not like them because they are tan and Hispanic, and I’ve showed them the racism that I’ve endured in the US, the stuff they say about Hispanic people. They just go blank and move on. I’ve had a baby since then and have just refused to see them and let them see my baby until they vaccinate. I told them it’s their choice, and if they trust some rando online more than me, even if it hurts me, it’s their decision, just like it is my decision to protect my baby. I am sad, frustrated and at times bewildered by the wild shit they say. The cognitive dissonance is just too much for me. I mean, they were vaccinated as kids.
They are very isolated and bitter, and once my remaining grandparent passes, I have no idea how they will survive, but since I know they would hurt someone who is LGBTQ or a minority, I really don’t care anymore. I grieve, but it is more for the family I could have had, and no amount of grief will make me give them a pass or forgive them unless they do a 180 in their views. In Spain, the majority of the population did vaccinate and wears masks when needed, so they are really outcasts by their own choosing, but since their FrEeDoM is more important, i hope they enjoy it. It does mean I’ve lost a big chunk of my already small family, but I cannot compromise my baby’s health to cater to their bonkers, hurtful views. At this point it isn’t even just the vaccine but the sexist, racist, homophobic shit they say. I don’t want my baby to be exposed to that.”
—Anonymous
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