"I do want to be pragmatic with the vaccine. I really do," I said to Paul.
But he wasn't so sure.
To Paul, the reasons I gave for not getting the shot are poor excuses with the health of the country at stake.
"There's no reason to not get the vaccine," he stated plainly during our podcast yesterday.
Mentioning serious side effects, I said, "They seem to be fairly common."
"They're not," Paul quickly replied.
This exemplified our differing perspective.
As such, Paul would go on to share his frustration with all those hesitating, which opened up another issue: the threat of "othering" happening in the country. ("It's the fault of all those 'anti-vaxers'.")
This is just the latest example in history of group-enemy social dynamics, which I mentioned, particularly since my differing perspective from Paul's doesn't see the vaccine as the clean-cut solution to current COVID spread anyway.
In the end, this was a conversation we agreed to have about the vaccine, to clear the air and perhaps learn from each other. We laid it all out there from opposing perspectives as perhaps only two friends could--with concern, respect, and, at times, bluntness.
Podcast video is on the way.