Petit à petit, Yuan fait son nid.

Lesson 65 : Be careful of “ALL”

In late January, it began to have an outbreak of the Covid-19 in China.

José followed the news very closely and he asked me often, “When was the last time you called your family ?”

I said, “Not a long time ago. We communicate with each other very often, almost everyday on WeChat.” ( A software like facebook in China.)

Jose said, “No, it is not the same thing. Nowadays, you should call them over the phone more often, because they are living a difficult time. You need to give them your support and remind them to be very careful. The situation could be very dangerous. It could become a pandemic.”

But at that time, my family and my friends themselves didn’t realize that it could develop so fast and so seriously.

They kept telling me, “Don’t worry, you are so far away, so take it easy, no need to be too nervous about it.”

And I thought, yes, they are right, we are so far away, with a Pacific ocean between us…

So, when José wanted to order a few boxes of N95 masks online, before he was ready to pay for it, I stopped him, “No need to be so nervous, everybody told me that it will not touch here. We are so far away.”

Doubting but following my suggestion, José put the masks buying project away in the wishing list…

And today, there is nowhere we could buy N95 mask with a reasonable price…

In Marsh, during his regular media conference, the doctor in charge of the public health system kept telling the public that people should wash their hands as often as possible ; but he didn’t mention the necessity of wearing a mask.

He said, “Wearing a mask could protect the others if you are ill ; but it could not prevent you from being contaminated by the virus from the others. So, just wash your hands, as often as possible.”

In the contrary, José kept telling me, “Don’t believe in it. Wear a mask when you go outside, even if all of them said it is not useful. I am telling you, it is essential.”

But there were almost nobody wearing a mask outside at that time.

One day, I worn a mask when I went to Costco, and a woman saw me. She took me by surprise as she said, “Incroyable!” …

Pufff… so you really need to have a lot of courage to be different from the others.

Now, things are reversed.

My family and friends began to worry about my situation in Canada.

They kept asking me whether I need help, masks, for example, which they are willing to send me by post.

They also worried about the infected people numbers getting up here. But when I asked about their situation in China, everybody told me, “It is under control. We can go to the restaurants now. No problem !”

But José said, “We need to believe in scientists ; not in politics. Scientists tell us that the second break out of the virus is inevitable. Please note the word, inevitable. So, be careful.”

I said, “But all the people I spoke with in China told me that it is very safe over there now.”

José looked at me, “All ? Who is all ? All could be right, but all could be wrong also.”

I said, “Hmmmmm, just like days before, you told me that Kim Jong-un was dead, because all the people began to say that he was already dead.”

José said, “Hmmmmm, exactly.”