Congrats for being featured in the news!

I sometimes wonder if people even try to think logically and rationally given any situation. But seeing how the recent events turned out, I guess not.

The city I’m currently living in, Beppu, has almost no new cases for the past few months. Perhaps the low population really helps to prevent the spread of the virus. And perhaps that lead the citizens to think that it’s okay to let their guard down and not do proper countermeasures like wearing a mask or social distancing. Or maybe go on a trip to a highly infected city.

In the beginning of this month, things just took a turn for the worse when a couple in Oita (the neighbouring city) was discovered to have been infected after returning from Osaka for their holiday trip. My first reaction after reading the news headline was, “How stupid can people be?” It’s quite obvious that big cities such as Osaka and Tokyo are high in infection rates. Yet, how are people still going there for vacation? What were on their minds when they went on this trip? I tried thinking of various reasons but I gave up, since I’m sure I won’t be able to understand it either way.

Today, a news spread among the citizens in Beppu that there was a worker in Youme Town (a department store) who got infected. Later, it was confirmed that there are, in fact, two infected people (including the aforementioned worker), who are both students of the university that I’m attending. I wasn’t sure if I was more surprised or disgusted. Perhaps the latter. The news didn’t disclose any information on how they got infected. But I guess my mind assumed that they did stupid things, thus the disgusted feeling.

The university immediately posted an announcement, asking students to stay cautious and constantly do countermeasures. It also warned students not to travel to crowded places during this summer break. Honestly, though, I don’t think that really helps. There will always be people who don’t think their actions through, and in the end bring unwanted consequences to the people around them. Hopefully being featured in a news makes the couple and students realize something. I may be evil for thinking this, but if I ever meet them, I’ll say, “Congrats for getting featured in the news!”