Breathe Through It

I figure that every once in a while, we should take a moment, gaze out upon the still waters and then just start chucking stuff in to see what happens, so I want to drop a great big communication rock right into the middle of the pandemic pond and see where the ripples go. 

That’s why I am coming out in support of the anti-maskers, anti-vaxxers and everyone else who has been pushing back against COVID 19 measures. 

Now, I don’t agree with these folks, but I do support their right to make their own decisions for their own reasons even if I don’t understand them. I know they must have some strongly compelling reasons, because nobody wants to get COVID, or have their loved ones catch it. No one wants to be quarantined or go on a ventilator. And no one wants to lose their sense of taste or smell, because even in the middle of a deadly global pandemic, there’s still Chicago Mix. That stuff is so good!

Anyway, since no one wants COVID, then some portion of our population must be making decisions based on bad information, or even listening to sources that perhaps don’t want this pandemic to end. That doesn’t mean that the audience is stupid or they’re not good people or they don’t deserve to live COVID-free lives. It means that they are listening to the wrong voices, that someone out there is engaging with them more effectively than our public health authorities.

So, let’s look at this from a communication perspective.

The easy thing to do with any resistive audience is to say, “We can’t talk to them. They’re being unreasonable.” But what’s truly unreasonable is to expect that repeating the same message over and over again is going to get you a different result, or that any single line of reasoning will work for every one of the almost 8 billion people on the planet. And in the case of COVID, this resistive audience must be our priority, because without their support, we’re not going to get out of this any time soon.

Now here’s the funny thing. We really need this population on-side. We need their help. Usually, when we need somebody’s help, we say, “Please help,” because we were raised to be polite. But how are we approaching the vaccine hesitant and people who don’t feel that COVID is a threat? We’re basically calling them names and pointing fingers.

Maybe we should look for another strategy. Like, starting 

Some people are already doing a great job to overcome barriers with this audience. Vaccine hesitancy clinics are having success by just talking with people, providing good information, and then making vaccinations available for anyone that wants one. On-line forums run by health professionals are getting results by creating a safe space where people can ask questions without worrying about being judged. 

These initiatives both start from the position that everyone deserves respect, and no one is any less deserving just because they have bad information or are confused or even scared. 

So, what can you and I do? We can stop judging and stop calling people out for making decisions that we don’t understand. If we keep pushing, they’re going to keep pushing back, because that’s human nature. And since the audience always has all the power in any communication, we’re never going to get anywhere by directly opposing them. 

When we get right down to it, we’re all just people doing our best to get through these challenging times. If we really want to make a difference, then we need to respect that some folks need different information, or a different voice, or more time, to come around. We might not like that idea, but our audience is always right, even when we are convinced they’ve got it wrong.

So, for the moment, until we all get through this together, remember that wearing a mask is still the simplest and easiest way to protect those around you, and patience is one of our best tools for dealing with those that might be late to the party.