On a normal day, I’m all for convincing people to jump on the Grey’s Anatomy bandwagon. From Meredith Grey being the most inspiring woman to walk this earth to Derek Shepherd aka McDreamy being just that: dreamy, this show is my daily bread and butter. Basically, I can’t live without it.
I’m a huge TV/movie-buff so I love shows that are super long and well, with Grey’s currently airing their 17th season, I’m sure you can understand why it’s a good fit. But this time, I’m leaving my biases and personal interests at the door and giving you a little advice: watch season 17 of Grey’s Anatomy. Not for the characters or because I love it or because I think the show is TV-gold, but because it will give you the biggest reality check you’ve ever received from your TV.
IMO, Grey’s’ latest season is the most accurate representation of the world we live in. Right off the bat, the first episode takes you smack into the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic. And at a time when numbers were still high and people I knew were still hanging out in large groups, I thought to myself then, if only I could get people to watch this.
In the past 13 episodes, they’ve managed to touch on *so* many different realities of COVID-19. The scenarios depicted in the show have ranged from teenagers who went partying and caught COVID to people who believed it simply did not exist and suffered the consequences. But something that truly struck a chord with me was getting to take a look inside the lives of doctors on the frontlines.
The episodes show the few moments doctors retreat to storage rooms and stairwells to have a breakdown after losing patient after patient, they show how these doctors can’t see their own kids and live out of hotel rooms, they show how these doctors have to witness their own family members get sick with COVID and some who even lose their battle with it.
This season has highlighted what goes on inside hospitals and how not wearing a mask or practicing social distancing can *really* harm you and those around you. It also highlighted the bleak reality of how sometimes no matter how much you want someone to live and survive, they don’t. Whether it’s a mother whose just given birth or an immunocomprised kid, COVID is real and fierce and dangerous and people pay the price of it with their lives.
The UAE is in a much better place than we were a year ago. With majority of our population vaccinated, cases on the lower end of things and suspending flights to ensure no new strains arrive in the country – our government has done their due diligence. But all of this still rings true, especially for folks across the world whose countries are still trying to fight the worst of this pandemic. Care, diligence and discipline is SO important. A global pandemic is *not* the time to be selfish.
And if not for the people who are quite literally slipping away overnight and losing their battles in days, than do it for the doctors who are exhausted – both mentally and physically – and would be the ones protecting you if it ever came down to it.
In some ways, this pandemic has put a lot of things into perspective. How self-serving people can be, how ignorant people can be and how a shocking number of people we know in our lives have little regard for the greater good and the world around us.
If you live in a country where COVID-19 is mostly under control, great! Truly, it is a gift to feel like you have come out the other side and I speak from experience. But it doesn’t mean that you can’t hold your friends and family in other countries accountable. I know I am. So, if you’re ready to take a look for yourself, open up your laptop and get streaming. I promise you, you’ll leave feeling more concious and responsible than before.