A Lesson in Coercion

By Paul Blase

It was February of 2012. Just eight months and a handful of days earlier, I was on cloud nine. I received an offer to play hockey in the 1. Liga, the second tier of professional hockey in Slovakia. Although I had some professional games under my belt already as part of a Professional Tryout contract, this was going to legitimize my career and the countless hours I spent in my backyard with a sheet of plexiglass, a bucket of about 30 pucks, and a bunch of 2×4’s nailed together leaning against a defunct well. It was going to legitimize all the teasing and bullying I suffered playing youth hockey. It was going to legitimize missing my senior prom. It was going to legitimize the never-ending cycle of “I can’t – I have hockey.”
 
 And then June 11th, 2011, happened. 

A heated argument occurred between my ex-girlfriend and I, and my best friend’s unfaithful girlfriend seized her chance to destroy my life for exposing her infidelity. Unbeknownst to me, a false 911 call accusing me, a 20-year-old aspiring hockey player who had never been in any trouble in his life, of threatening everybody with a gun. Quite the contrary. I asked everybody, my ex-girlfriend included, to leave my apartment. My best friend and his girlfriend left; my ex decided to stay. We went to sleep. Next thing you know, the door is being kicked in. I wake up in my underwear and go to answer. The door flies open and about 4-5 officers in SWAT gear and what appeared to be submachine guns with lasers are pointed at me and all over my chest. The rest of what happens is a blur. I have never been more scared at any point in my life. The sad reality, as we see in today’s world, an innocent person can be killed, and the officers are just doing their job. The person will be villainized to justify the situation. This all took place before body cams were even a thing. There exists no recording of that night. 

Fast forward to court proceedings, my ex-girlfriend, a trust fund baby, was forced by her parents to cooperate with whatever the prosecution wanted. She recanted her story, apologized to me saying, “If I don’t do this, they will take everything away from me. I’m so sorry.” And that was the last I ever heard from her. The prosecution was ordered to procure the evidence that we requested months earlier – 911 tapes, breathalyzer logs, and paperwork from a subsequent meeting my ex had with the detective (she received his business card). The prosecution blatantly disobeyed this order. Instead of providing this evidence in 7 days, they waited until 11. Day 10 was the limit for when the 911 tapes were purged for good. The detective claimed he never met with my ex, despite her providing a business card. And when we filed for dismissal based upon prosecutorial misconduct, the motion was denied. The prosecution motioned to suppress even mentioning the evidence I just listed. The motion was granted. There was zero leg for me to stand on and defend myself, especially since my ex perjured herself. 

We went into a conference room. The prosecutor said, “Off the record? Your client should take this deal, otherwise, we’ll look into filing felony charges for witness tampering and witness intimidation.”
 
 And at that moment… That very moment in a courthouse conference room in Hastings, Minnesota.. It hit me. My life was never going to be the same. I should have been in Slovakia living my dream. Instead, I was about to sign a paper pleading guilty to a crime I didn’t commit to cover up an excessive display of force in a small upscale neighborhood in suburban Minneapolis. 

I had never felt so helpless in my life. 

I overcame it, the same way I overcame everything else in my life. But this sense of helplessness, this sense of impending doom… It recently reared its ugly head back into my life. 

Today I was offered a job with great pay, outstanding benefits, and a bright future for the career ahead of me. 

One caveat – COVID-19 Vaccination required. 

Now, I’ll be honest with you, I’m not a looney. I’m not a Covid denier. I’m actually pro-vax. My mother and grandmother were both hospitalized with Covid. I understand the very real dangers. 

However, I’m pro-science and have been blessed with the ability to think critically and process information. Moreover, my family physician, an internationally lauded doctor in internal medicine, recommended I not receive the vaccine. The reasoning is simple. I already had Covid, likely twice. My vitals are excellent. I could stand to lose a little weight, but for a bigger guy, I’m extremely healthy and active. My antibody levels are equivalent to someone who’s vaccinated. Furthermore, he cited a peer review study that shows that the vaccine does not increase immunity among previously infected people. He even went so far as outrightly telling my mom and grandma that they shouldn’t get the booster because they already have an immune response as well as the redundant vaccination. I’ve seen this guy diagnose and save my stepfather’s life several times by noticing the most menial symptoms. To say I trust his opinion, which is sought by doctors around the world, is an understatement. 

However, when I asked him about the vaccine and if he can write me a medical exemption, he told me, “There is no valid medical reason for you not to get it. It won’t do much, if anything, but I cannot say you are at risk when you aren’t. Get the Johnson & Johnson shot, and it will be over.”
 
 I respect that. He’s not willing to falsely state that I am at risk of a negative reaction when I’m not. But I have nothing to gain by getting this vaccine, except employment. But that’s the issue. Why is my means to provide for myself and my family compromised? Why am I being forced to make a medical decision that has been scientifically proven to make little to no difference, in my particular circumstance, among the plethora of breakthrough cases we’re currently seeing?
 
 This isn’t intended to become another debate about pro-vax or anti-vax. This is intended to provoke thoughts. At this point, the only thing I can think of is the company instituted this policy and because they coerced tens of thousands of people to comply, they simply cannot renege and admit they were wrong. The vaccine isn’t preventing people from catching covid. The boosters aren’t even preventing it. And they certainly aren’t requiring the employees to provide proof of vaccinations (for themselves and their offspring) for other much more lethal and communicable diseases such as measles, mumps, rubella, shingles– this list goes on. 

Obviously, schools and daycares require this. By and far, most jobs never have. All of a sudden, it’s a requirement. And it pisses me off, especially when there is no foundation to prove that it will protect anyone else, myself included. 

So be it. Although people can say, “You don’t have to take this job,” if only it was that simple. Opportunities such as this one do not present themselves very often and I have to be in this for the long haul. I have no choice. For the first time in 10 years, I feel helpless. I feel cornered. I don’t logically have a choice. But just as I got through life as a felon and never let it hinder my potential, I’ll get through this. This isn’t nearly as dire, but the prospect of losing my bodily autonomy and the principle of the choice being made for me based on the opinion of someone who doesn’t know me from Adam, versus someone who is an expert and intimately knows my medical history, is a frightening one. It’s something all people should be concerned with. 

I’m beating a dead horse. I “voluntarily” give up that choice, that autonomy, in the name of the future and my ability to be Daddy to my little monkey, my “Super Baby.” I’m doing it because sometimes you have to sacrifice a pawn to save the king. 

I’ll be the pawn so my son can one day be King.