"Should you be going to a meeting?"

someone asked me yesterday. 
    "Why not?" I asked
    "Well this coronavirus thing and you looking after your father..."
As we were standing in the post office at the time and someone further along in the queue was sniffling and snuffling I wondered just what the person in question was thinking.
     "Do you think I should just stop going out altogether?" I asked
     "No but you don't need to take unnecessary risks."
     "So going to a meeting is an unnecessary risk?"
     "Well you don't need to go do you?"
Actually I don't need to go and I do need to go. I am not even sure I want to go but that has nothing to do with the coronavirus. Indeed if I told people I wasn't going for that reason some of them would just accept it.
I know the Senior Cat is at risk if he goes anywhere. It isn't just the coronavirus. He's 97. He has a range of health issues, some more serious than others. 
Middle Cat has been staying away from him this week because she has a mild cold and didn't want to risk giving it to him. I've had one too and have been very, very careful about hand washing. I am careful about that anyway.
My first teaching appointment was in a school for profoundly intellectually disabled children. We washed our hands constantly there. It didn't stop the bugs entirely but it did keep them to a manageable level. 
I have to think about the coronavirus in the same way. I need to take the sensible precautions like being even fussier than usual about hand washing.
But should it stop me from doing other things? The meeting isn't essential but someone there is doing something for me and she will be, at very least, disappointed if I don't go. She is a good friend who has not had it easy of late and I want to support her. I have some DVDs she can borrow. One of her pleasures in life now is to sit and knit and watch a DVD. Perhaps it is selfish of me but I like the idea of being able to give her some pleasure.
We could all stop doing things because of the coronavirus. We should stop if we even suspect we might have it. That does not mean we should cease to do things. 
I am not one to prowl off to crowded places. I don't like crowds. I have never liked crowds. If you are short you can't see things...and I am at risk of being knocked over as well.  Avoiding crowds at things like football matches is not a problem. I don't go to those things.
But I still need to go to the post office, the supermarket, the library, and more. I don't need to go to the meeting but the risk there is very low.  It will be a much greater risk just getting there.
We need to take some risks in life.