This argument that “You want to kill grandma” is a good argument. It’s not logical, and takes no account of my actual opinion (which is never explored), much less grandma’s, but it shuts down dialogue which might turn in a way the person using this tactic wants to avoid.
However, it occurs to me to channel my 83 year old self, if I live that long. I would ask “what about my son and daughter in law? What about my grandkids? My grandson missed his baseball season and my granddaughter missed her dance recital. I was really looking forward to both of those. Both of them seem depressed because they haven’t seen their friends in three months,and both love playing sports and being active, and all that is cancelled.
“And even though he won’t say it, I can tell my son is deeply worried about money. I shared what I have, but I was never that rich. If he doesn’t start getting projects soon, they may lose the house. Fuck me. Get this damned thing done. Be goddamned Americans, not craven sheep. I’ll stay home. It’s probably about time I finally watched “Breaking Bad”. But DON’T USE ME AS AN EXCUSE.”
That’s pretty damn close to what I would be saying, guaranteed.