(Snippets from the frontline)
COVID-19: Sympathy commercials
How very nice. TV commercials telling us how sad it is to see us suffer, but “We are there for you.” (Insert sad-face emoji.)
How many people in our country, let alone around the world, don’t already know the impact of this virus? Yet there is no escaping end-to-end “sympathy commercials” reminding us of the plight we face.
Infomercials were easier to digest. But let’s think about this.
Instead of commercials jolting our angst, or setting an elephant onto our already fragile psyche, why not give us information getting us through the day?:
-Best hours to take public transportation avoiding crowds;
-finding a pharmacy that has hydroxychloroquine to treat your lupus;
-or how we can get “prior authorization” from our insurance company for stage IV cancer surgery at an out-of-network hospital because the local facility is filled with COVID-19 patients.
Yeah, simple things.
Nix the “sympathy commercials.” We need help finding our way!
Of course, I’m being sarcastic. Aren’t they?
Bring back infomercials. (Insert smiley-face emoji.)
Gene Uzawa Dorio, M.D.
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