The past week has been the ultimate challenge for me...I had to go against everything I believe in because I signed a contract almost 9 years ago.
Let me digress...
As most people do not know or wouldn't even think about is that I am in the Navy. The other day my boss came around to my department and told all of us that we had to get the H1N1 vaccination. I had been avoiding this as I had avoided the other Flu vaccinations over the last 4 years, I just kept ignoring it. This time they were for real. I didn't want the H1N1 vaccination for a few reasons...
1. It was not tested as thoroughly as the normal Flu vaccination had been in the past. Think about this...the normal Flu took almost a decade to perfect before it stopped doing more harm then help in people. The H1N1 vaccination was a knee-jerk reaction by the government because of the 'pandemic' in 2009, therefore it was not as tested as the normal vaccination and had more potential in harming you.
2. Ridiculous side-effects that will make you even more sick. One side-effect can leave you with Guillain-Barré Syndrome, which pretty much is an auto-immune disease which can paralyze you.
3. The ingredients in the vaccination are absurd. Thimerosal (linked to autism in children), formaldehyde, egg whites(I'm Vegan) and many other things that I didn't want in my body.
So I ended up talking to a bunch of different people, some Navy, some friends and family, about the pros and cons of the vaccination. Of course the Navy people said that it was for the better good of the 'unit' aka the Navy. My friends, who all didn't and won't get it, all were like you are out of your mind if you get it. My father pretty much told me the best thing I could hear and later what I eventually did. I expressed to the Navy people that I was well informed of the vaccination and that it was against what I believe in as a Vegan. They came back at me with what I thought was what they were going to say is, "You wear a uniform, you signed a contract and this is a Navy-wide vaccination that everyone WILL get. If you don't get it you will be sent to captain's mast and/or court martial." Pretty much that means I would be disobeying a lawful order and I would get dishonorably discharged. If I get dishonorably discharged, I lose all of my school benefits for when I am done with the Navy in a year and more-so a DD looks bad when you want to apply for teaching positions later on.
My thought process:
-I absolutely hate everything that the H1N1 vaccination is in it's entirety, the ingredients, the possible side-effects, the lack of testing, and lastly it's not Vegan.
-I don't want to lose my benefits as I have been in the military for almost 9 years now and all's that I want is my benefits at this point; To be done with the military and go to school to be an Art teacher.
Yes, I succumbed to their scare tactics and pretty much let them run all over me, which is a horrible feeling by the way, and I got the vaccination. I feel violated, small, cheated and most of all emotionally drained. This has taken a lot out of me.
What would you have done?
So I ended up talking to a bunch of different people, some Navy, some friends and family, about the pros and cons of the vaccination. Of course the Navy people said that it was for the better good of the 'unit' aka the Navy. My friends, who all didn't and won't get it, all were like you are out of your mind if you get it. My father pretty much told me the best thing I could hear and later what I eventually did. I expressed to the Navy people that I was well informed of the vaccination and that it was against what I believe in as a Vegan. They came back at me with what I thought was what they were going to say is, "You wear a uniform, you signed a contract and this is a Navy-wide vaccination that everyone WILL get. If you don't get it you will be sent to captain's mast and/or court martial." Pretty much that means I would be disobeying a lawful order and I would get dishonorably discharged. If I get dishonorably discharged, I lose all of my school benefits for when I am done with the Navy in a year and more-so a DD looks bad when you want to apply for teaching positions later on.
My thought process:
-I absolutely hate everything that the H1N1 vaccination is in it's entirety, the ingredients, the possible side-effects, the lack of testing, and lastly it's not Vegan.
-I don't want to lose my benefits as I have been in the military for almost 9 years now and all's that I want is my benefits at this point; To be done with the military and go to school to be an Art teacher.
Yes, I succumbed to their scare tactics and pretty much let them run all over me, which is a horrible feeling by the way, and I got the vaccination. I feel violated, small, cheated and most of all emotionally drained. This has taken a lot out of me.
What would you have done?
Dude, im not a fan of any vaccines myself, i have been offered numerous times for flu vaccine 's due to my work in the medical field, but i have yet to receive one. Call me a holy roller but if the big man decides im supposed to get sick, its going to happen weather i have a vaccine or not hahahah.
ReplyDeleteBut you did the right thing in my opinion. The risk of loosing the bene's was not worth the pain and discontent of having to get a shot.