It’s been a year since pandemic isolation started, causing the end of last ski season. Skiing and teaching skiing have always been a joy and my passion, but this year has felt different. Added to the increasing traffic were long lift lines, skiing in masks (and goggle fog), limited inside warm-up opportunities, and much more hassle.
Hours spent in Little Cottonwood Canyon traffic has offered plenty of time to reflect and push the “pause” button. “Am I part of the problem?”
It’s no wonder that I felt pulled towards using my professional skills to be a “Vaccinator.”
After the first shift, I came home from my 20-minute commute to Mountain America Expo Center, with an unfamiliar “buzzy,” “light” feeling which replaced the fatigue and frustration that had become my constant companion this winter.
Not prone to emotional outbursts, an article linked to the YouTube Marsh Family video, “Have the New Jab” surprised me as it left me in tears, sobbing with gratification and joy. I knew I was on the right track.
Turns out, I am getting as much out of vaccinating as are the vaccine recipients. The hundreds of people I vaccinated won’t end up in the ICU or dead. In years of medical practice, I had yet to have that experience.
Not that it’s all fun and games; there’s the completion of seemingly endless forms to get started, and vaccinating is hard work and can be frustrating. But sometimes it’s hilarious, as when a patient responded to the question about allergies with, “I’m allergic to Democrats.” (He got his shot, nonetheless.)
Perhaps, just maybe, a temporary reduction of my Little Cottonwood Canyon commute for vaccinating makes me part of the solution, and that makes it all worthwhile.
Howard Leaman, MD is a retired physician, part time ski instructor and now also a volunteer vaccinator for Salt Lake County Health Dept.’s Medical Reserve Corps.
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