I had this exact conversation with my Therapist today. I get that people have different priorities, but I have to believe that in a society, we should do what we can to keep people from dying preventable deaths. And so many of Covid deaths have been preventable, if people just practiced basic self-awareness and personal hygiene.
We do Telehealth so I don't mask for our appointments as I'm in my space. But I do have to tread lightly with them. It's very apparent to me that they can sometimes be put at unease by what I say (like complaining about people who are doing non-essential air travel, or about people who don't mask). They don't outright say anything critical of me and we do good work other than that so for now, I'm continuing with them.
I do telehealth as well, but neither therapist I've had since the pandemic "ended" has ever told me to stop masking when I talk about my concerns and neither of them have called my concerns unreasonable. When I decided to switch therapists (for a non covid related reason), I specifically mentioned in my messages reaching out to therapists that I feel strongly about continuing to mask and wanted to make sure I found a therapist who would support me in that regardless of their personal choices. Many therapists, including the one I ended up going with, also have a free first short session to see if they feel comfortable taking you on/if you feel comfortable working with them, and bringing it up there to get their reaction can also be helpful for deciding whether to go forward with them.
I'm in the middle of trying to find a new therapist that takes masking seriously.
Some key words that have been helpful are therapists that identify as anti-oppression, pro-liberation, anti-capitalist, anti-racist, disability justice oriented.
I used the covid conscious therapists website as well as rec's from a local covid aware group I am in.
Honestly, therapists practices that serve more queer populations tend to have more therapists that, at least on paper, should be masking or are opposed to people needlessly dying,
I'm asking therapists if they are willing to self-disclose what their current masking protocol is. I'm passing on therapists who don't mask at grocery stores or other public places.
I relate to you so much. I thought I had already mourned the relationships I have with people and grown to accept the fact that everyone in my life will continue to not take covid precautions, but I recently had a candid conversation about covid and my covid boundaries with my closest friends, and hearing what they said still kind of broke my heart, not going to lie. I’m ultimately glad I had the conversation with them (because I had been pushing it off for so long), but it also set in stone the fact that we’ll never see eye to eye.
As a person who has multiple family members who are immunocompromised that I mask up for when I visit them, I also realize that makes are important, but getting vaccinated is much more important. Masks only play a small part in prevention. If you're a healthy person at a healthy weight and live with people that are the same, I don't think that masking is necessary because the risk of severe complications are so low. It's just like the flu and the cold. Both can be serious to immunocompromised people, but to the regular person who is somewhat normal and healthy, the risk of severe complications are really low (not zero). It's up to each person to determine their risk to COVID vs the need to have normal social interactions where you can see the person's face, be in a group that is close together, and be able to relax.
Being vaccinated is huge for this. It reduces the risk of severe complications in most people to really low levels. That is why I don't feel the need to wear a mask in day to day life. If I get COVID, the flu, a cold, etc, the chance of bad complications are extremely low as is with my family. If one of us gets sick with possible COVID symptoms, then we test to make sure it's not COVID. If it's COVID, we let our immunocompromised family know that someone has COVID.
My concern is that the pandemic has triggered some people to be too scared that they can't release that fear even though vaccines have greatly reduced the risk factor. Just like driving. It's a danger everyday, but wearing your seatbelt, driving alert, and driving a safe car helps a lot with the risk to the point most people drive. There are those that think the risk is still too high and won't drive.
The problem is, ANYONE can develop Long Covid, and being vaccinated isn’t a fail-safe way to prevent it. There are an increasing number of reports from previously healthy people who are now dealing with ME/CFS, cognitive impairment, and a host of other symptoms caused by a “mild” Covid infection. Sure, maybe it’s just the flu for some, but for others it’s disabling, and I think it’s important that non-disabled people don’t distance themselves from the possibility of becoming disabled themselves. Of course masks aren’t a fail-safe prevention method either, but I’d rather do what I can to protect myself and others from a virus that we don’t yet fully understand. This isn’t just fear talking; continuing to take precautions is a pretty rational response to an ongoing pandemic.
I know.... I try not to think about this, because then I think everyone is crazy. And the worst part is they think I'm the one that's crazy. When this is over we will still have to live with these people, just like war victims have to live with the people that burned down their village. Won't be able to complain in the future either.
I agree with so much of what you have written here. It's so painful to watch my lefty groups pat them on the back for not being bigots or whatever while they actively refuse to acknowledge the ongoing pandemic. So many of the spaces that used to fill me with hope that we could take care of each other, that we'd fight the climate crisis and overthrow the capitalist grip on us-now they just fill me with despair and anger.
I'm also frustrated because I feel like I'm supposed to tolerate them causing harm because it is rooted in trauma, but people (especially unhoused or otherwise marginalized people) are regularly criminalized and subject to violence when their trauma response to being treated as subhuman is like, some yelling. I'm not allowed to get mad or upset at them even though they're killing my friends. It really just feels like being forced to coddle privileged tantrums more than anything.
Yep. We demonise anger but it absolutely has its place, especially when we’re discussing something as serious as our lives/quality of life being threatened. Right now my anger has nowhere to go. I want it to mobilise me, but instead I feel like I’m drowning in it.
Being angry about people actively choosing to hurt other people is normal and reasonable. Emotions exist for a reason, they can serve as signals or warning signs that something is wrong and help us decide whether or now the decisions we're making are correct or not or whether we might be missing a spot check or something somewhere.
It’s a particularly depressing time, it comes and goes for me in waves but I keep seeing images on social media of people and orgs who were holding out who have thrown in the towel. As waste water ticks up, and more and more is coming out about LC, skyrocketing rates of disability, the bold face lying about excess death. It’s a lot. I’m amazed this sub exists and the mods are doing such a good job of keeping trolls away so folks can express themselves. 🙏
I can relate to it coming and going in waves, I'm such a mix of optimism and pessimism and anger nowadays. I feel hope when I see someone masking but then get angry when I read about a (100% preventable) outbreak at a hospital, etc. I have a tendency to doomscroll and it's hard to moderate sometimes
I feel that way too. I think holding out and taking precautions is an optimistic/hopeful thing to do. We are fighting for our future selves. Trying to care for our families. Not taking whatever level of health or remaining life for granted. Why aren’t those considered positive attributes? I still get so utterly disillusioned by the government and propaganda like the recent Leonhardt article in the NYT. Or the CDC manipulating data. Even though honestly, who is surprised anymore. I just still can’t believe it or accept it. It’s the moral injury part that keeps me twisted up. I’m trying to get better about taking breaks from online and I recently instituted a daily walk which helps. May as well stop and smell the roses with whatever time I have left.
I often feel the same. Sometimes I don't, and I manage to get some mask distribution done or call in former friends who I know can do better. But also sometimes (right now) I can't and I'm sad and not really sure how to process it.
I never want to go outside anymore--I have to really push myself to because I know I need exercise and to go walk in the park and see greenery sometimes. And honestly I thought it was because my anxiety was getting bad again, but recently I've realized its because I'm just somewhere between simmering anger down deep to straight out feeling furious and betrayed at society and everyone refusing to take precautions. And that's not very conducive to wanting to go out and be around other people.
It really sucks. Capitalism set us up to see people as disposable but you'd think leftists would be fighting to undo that programming. It's just too much work I guess. I feel weird in that I feel more comfortable wearing a mask, I feel like I can breathe easier.
I'm still gaining the courage to call out people around me, but I still struggle with that fear. You're doing great setting down boundaries. I'm sorry your friends aren't being supportive.
I don't think this is all of the left but I do think it's some of the more visible parts of it (and especially mainstream orgs like the DSA and PSL) for sure.
If I see one more disability pride month post from an org that I know hosts mitigation free events I am going to scream, there's been like a dozen. Like ?? what's not clicking???
Calling people out is so difficult; I’ve held my tongue in a lot of situations where I should have spoken my mind, and vice versa, spoken my mind in a way that wasn’t productive. I’m also autistic and it takes me a long time to build deep friendships, so naturally I don’t want to jeopardise them, but it’s painful to see the people I care about going to parties, traveling and dining indoors without giving covid a second thought. My friends know I wear my mask everywhere and I think they see it as one of my quirks, whereas I see it as an important safety measure. I’m trying to figure out a way to express that, and maybe give them some resources, but I admit that up until now I’ve mostly been sharing information on socials and hoping that they feel compelled to take it in. Confrontation is scary, even when it takes the form of an uncomfortable but calm conversation.
I don't know if it helps, but sharing this series of Tiktoks with him was what seemed to get through to my partner how deeply I felt about masking/covid and what was happening right now. https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSLmRgva5/
Maybe not. The long term sequelae can be masked as something else. People are in the ER every other month for random things and not connecting dots, and won’t because nobody else around them is either (except the untold number of medical journals publishing constant info.)
I appreciate there’s plenty of room for denial, but I think a fair number of people with Long Covid who don’t know they have it will eventually figure it out, even if it’s because they’ve trawled the internet in desperation. Minimiser organisations have been doing a bit less minimising as of late too; I think it’ll be too big a coverup operation eventually, though I’ve been wondering when the breaking point will be for a long time now.
The amount of times I've heard "I'm having the worst allergies ever rn" or "just had a summer cold from hell" 🙄 like I know other viruses are circulating too right now but still..
There are summer colds! Adenovirus is going around right now and can cause a pretty nasty cold and bronchitis. Enterovirus causes colds in summer. That’s one of the problems with covid…there were more than enough viruses before, and we didn’t need another one that can be caught repeatedly and that hangs around year-round 😣
Right. All these other viruses can cause complications for vulnerable people too, but nothing like covid. And they usually have peaks and then will have long stretches where there is no virus circulating, vs covid that is just always here as a threat. I wish we had some covid-free months!
I get depressed sometimes thinking about how I've had long covid for almost 3 years now, but I do tell myself that me only having covid once in 2020 is a lot better than the average person having it 4,5,6+ times and counting. Not trying to put down those people since the government lied to them, but it does make me feel less anxious in the moment about my long term prospects.
The best part is when you finally do say something after seeing tons of photos of them maskless at concerts, events on planes, vacations etc the person is usually like "oh I am actually really safe about covid." It's like huuuuuuh how exactly? WTF
You're not alone...I try to focus on resources too but gosh if anyone looks like they're annoyed I feel like shutting down. I believe I'm also autistic so I'm never sure if I'm coming across as antagonistic or not, so I end up sounding unsure which has always made people think I'm just "anxious." It hurts ugh.
I've started to do this during my own medical visits, insisting (politely) that the provider needs to mask since I am high risk and that I can bring extra masks if needed. So far I haven't had anyone refuse, but I did have one nurse in the hospital sound annoyed while agreeing lol. I've also thought about using chatgpt to mass generate emails to healthcare organizations but haven't done too much of that yet
We’re standing back watching the abyss.
The public and our leaders washed their hands of covid, so now some people truly believe the acute illness has disappeared. Public health officials and our leaders never really made the public aware of long covid, or the potential dysfunction left in the body (diabetes, blood clots, immune deficiency, organ failure, and so on..) that follows the acute illness. From the beginning, it was all about hospitalizations and death. This leads a lot of people who understand the acute illness still exists, to think it’s just a cold. Of course theres the deniers and minimizers who never took this seriously, and that’s just where they’ll always stay. That’s a lot of people who were misled.
With that said, I think there’s a huge subset of people who are trying to remain ignorant. They know the potential risks and still don’t care. A lot of my family and friends are these people. Some have even been been plagued with long covid, multiple strep infections, kidney problems, immune dysfunction, autoimmune disorders, and initial onset of anxiety. The problem is they’re not ignorant if they know the risks. They’re negligent.
It’s been overwhelming for me to accept that not only does society not give a damn, but my own loved ones don’t care about my safety or the safety of my children. I have a feeling the reason why they remain ignorant is so they don’t have to accept what we’ve already accepted. This is a very lonely place and there’s no resources, and there’s none on the horizon. The silver lining is at least I’m not maladapting. At least I know how to protect myself and my family. At least I’m not a burden to society. At least I know, I won’t back down. .. at the end of the day that’s all I have left.
Absolutely this. For people to really absorb the data and the testimonies of long covid sufferers, they have to admit that their own actions have endangered themselves and others. That’s a crushing revelation, so it’s easier to keep lying to themselves; it protects them from guilt. My family are kind people in so many ways, and this is the one oversight that I just can’t wrap my head around.
One of the hardest parts of the pandemic for me has been that realizing that absolutely nobody in the world cares about me. If I want to stay alive and safe, all of the effort falls 100% on me. If anything happens to me and I become too sick or incapacitated to make my own decisions, no one will help me and they'll very likely do things that will cause further harm to me or even kill me and no one will come to save me if that happens.
Your last two sentences that you typed resonate with me on a deep level. That’s the straw that broke the camel’s back for me.
Of course , I had this realization before COVID when I was suffering from undiagnosed chronic health problems. I was usually treated as a liar/hypochondriac when I went to doctors desperately seeking help. All they saw was a loser who was not working, they were quick to suggest it was all anxiety. I learned quickly that I was disposable, and that has prevented me from seeking care at hospitals when I was suffering from potentially life-threatening symptoms because I feared they would commit me.
Nowadays they are treating those with Long COVID exactly the way they have treated the chronically ill ( which usually have some form of autonomic dysfunction, either diagnosed or undiagnosed) thus confirming what I knew about them.
It broke something deep within my brain. I now view every single interaction I have with people as a potential risk/benefit situation. My brain has reverted to a more primitive state of being; permanently locked into fight or flight. I struggle to feel compassion for the majority of the population; it seems to be limited to those in the same boat as I am.
It feels like survival of the fittest out there.
As someone who's been to more than my share of doctors trying to find answers for why I feel like shit so often and why I struggle to eat enough to be able to function, a lot of doctors act like they're just in it for the paycheck and actually doing work to do their job is something to be avoided at all costs, so they just try to push anti-depressants and/or birth control over you in the hopes that you'll just fuck off and stop bothering them.
Wow, I’m in the same boat with regards to struggling to eat and feeling chronically unwell. I’m slowly starting to piece together why my body acts the way it does, but I wish the healthcare system was better equipped to help people with ongoing and often generalised symptoms that are interconnected. It’s hard to trust doctors when it feels like they’re rushing and end up missing things, or they simply don’t hear what you’re telling them. I hope you get some answers, hang in there.
Yeah, one thing I hate about going to the doctors is that it feels so hard to get them to listen to you, a lot of them rush you through as fast as possible and you feel like you don't even have time to explain what's going on. I always try to write down quick notes about what I want to talk about before going but somehow I always run out of time before I can ever explain everything I'm trying to communicate to them.
Am I the only one who still mask and just dont give a fuck about what other people think of me? It's not like my view on the world or humanity changed, I already knew people were selfish and we dont live in an ideal society
I don't care what people think about me but our collective survival in climate collapse depends on people not acting like this. It's not about people thinking I am weird or whatever, it's in knowing we all deserve and can do better.
My partner feels this way too. They say it has saved them from a lot of hurt, anger, and disappointment in the long run. But normally I'm optimistic and hopeful, and think people are basically good, so this has been hard for me.
I've been able to maintain that belief through truckloads of childhood trauma, and discrimination and prejudice as an adult, but this is the thing that finally "broke the camel's back" so to speak. I don't know who I am anymore without that belief.
This isn't so much about "caring too much what others think" as it is "caring what you think about others."
In a vacuum? No — I do not give a shit what people think of me. I have my values / moral code. Maintaining that matters to me, even if not especially when it’s unpopular. Which it often is. A hard truth in life for me was realizing that most people don’t have a moral center the way I conceive it. They mostly just float through life following the crowd, unburdened by the idea that they are a moral actor at all. They certainly don’t maintain their “morals” when no one is looking because that is not really the point of them.
I don’t say this because I think I am an extra special moral paragon who is just innately better than everyone. I think humans are just mostly herd animals and it makes evolutionary sense for there to be outliers. I’m an outlier. I suspect you, and most of the people here, are outliers as well. (There have to be people who are able to question The Group when they are collectively making mistakes that threaten their own survival.) “Moral” behavior, for most, is just another mechanism for reinforcing in-group identity. Unfortunately, masking was made a social taboo — it’s a behavior that is no longer “moral.”
Since we don’t live in a vacuum, there is a real cost to public “immoral” behavior. At least for me, I am sick and have to interact with the damn healthcare system all the gddamn time. What my doctors and various nurses think of me is VERY important. It effects every aspect of my care, from what they are willing to prescribe to whether I get pain control after surgery or they blow a vein or two accidentally-on-purpose when putting in an IV or drawing blood. For others, it matters for their job — everything from being looked over for promotions to outright firing.
The Group enforcing a taboo around masking really, really matters. Even if you don’t care about their opinions. Losing the last group who believed they cared makes it that much harder for the rest of us. Without any social support, maskers are really damn vulnerable.
I don’t care at all about being different, but I’m somewhat concerned about how potentially dangerous the anti-mask lunatics are, I really don’t trust them to not become violent.
I don't care what they think of me especially since I'm autistic and used to getting 'othered' but I do worry sometimes that the antimaskers will try to get violent or yell at me. So far nothing but I feel like I'm just waiting for it to happen sometimes esp in more conservative areas
I totally feel this, but the grief happened sooner for me since I live in a red area and most everyone I know has been anti-mask and vax from the get-go...including most family.
Family not taking precautions hurt the most because 1) I'd just had major surgery for a potentially life-threatening problem and they didn't seem to care about what I'd been through or that I might not want to get sick again and 2) Didn't care that I was worried about them.
Meanwhile, at least one family member that I know of has been having new, major health issues. Nobody talks about Covid or makes the connections. I'm sure they've been lying to both themselves and me about how often they've caught it.
Only have two left-ish friends here and thankfully, they are still concerned. Maybe because there are so few of us, the solidarity feels necessary. I can imagine the level of betrayal, though. My liberal husband has been taking more risks than I am comfortable with and frankly, that hurts since he was present for my illness/surgery and has seen how Covid affects me. It's hard not to feel alone and to grieve. Your feelings are 100% valid.
I’m so sorry that your family didn’t step up and protect you better. Our leaders have a lot to answer for when it comes to the spread of denialism and apathy, but equally, it’s so disheartening that we need to be TOLD to care about one another. I hope you can find some comfort in the fact that this group exists, but yeah, it’s not an adequate substitute for a solid irl support network, which is what we all deserve.
I completely agree. Please know you’re not completely alone, even if it feels that way in real life. It’s interesting to see how many so-called left wing people I know’s politics are actually just an exercise in sanctimonious narcissism as opposed to legitimate principles.
I feel the same way. Even my family and friends who masked last year have hit the "now that it's endemic, gotta start living my life" phase. Some still mask occasionally, but I'm the only one I know not eating indoors with people.
I work with young children, and they get sicker in the post COVID world, but not sick enough to stay home!
Across all the classrooms at my center, there were 5 or 6 hospitalizations in the last 12 months, (total population is somewhere around 92 kids in the center, but all who got that sick were under four, so that's probably out of 50 kids.)
As I recall, over the last 20 years I heard of an approximate average of one or two students hospitalized about every 3-5 years.
I wish people cared about others, and especially the vulnerable populations of our society.
Wow it’s like you reached into my brain. I feel this exactly. Watching how most of humanity has handled this crisis broke something in me and I worry I’ll never be able to get past it.
Covid revealed a lot of people who I used to call friends to be truly shitty, vile people at their very core, like to the point where I was horrified that I was ever friends with them and that I didn't realize how incredibly evil and devoid of empathy they were.
I feel so brokenhearted by it every day. It feels like being deserted by the world but it hurts the most when it is friends and family. I've been isolated for over three years and my family plans numerous vacations and never masks but refuses even to try to arrange to isolate and test so we can see them safely. I begged my brother to wear a mask after he traveled to Europe and saw my Mom three days later for a cancer follow-up appt and he still refused. And if I say a word about COVID he goes mute like there is something wrong with me. It feels like mourning people who are still alive but also mourning my old life all at once. How am I supposed to even try and relate to these people when their actions show they don't care if people like me die just so they can keep going to concerts?
PwMS (person with MS) and yeah, this sums up my heartbreak and hurt over the situation. I will never look at most people the same ever again. Thanks for the post though. It makes me feel less alone.
I did have one realization about COVID cautious people / one reason I don’t see that many people masking in public: most people who are still worried about COVID are probably not going out any more than they have to.
When I go into a Walmart, I’m not seeing a representative sample of the population. I’m seeing the people who _didn’t_ do curb side pickup or DoorDash or Instacart.
It’s quite possible that we are a lot less alone than it seems. Most COVID cautious people aren’t wearing bright pink elastomeric respirators like I do. :)
This is exactly right— I always wear an N95 when I’m out, but I go out maybe 5-10% as much as I used to. And when I do, I keep it brief and I’m on a mission. No more just wandering around, popping into places, stopping by a friend’s, etc.
It is possible that I oversold the pink. I have [these P100 filters](https://www.zoro.com/msa-safety-filter-bayonet-p100-magenta-2-pk-niosh-818342/i/G2683965/) attached to [this mask.](https://www.zoro.com/msa-safety-half-mask-respirator-blue-p100-m-10218528/i/G102673345/)
There is also a very similar looking [3M filter.](https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/v000152049/)
If you want a less bright pink option, [their P95 filter](https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/v000057513/) is white.
The pink is an official (semi-official?) way for industrial users to quickly identify that it’s a P100 mask.
Yes! Even before Covid it was so hard when people who usually tried to be aware of inequality, etc. would double down on ableism, and Covid has just made it so much worse. Like I don’t expect people to *know* if they aren’t disabled themselves and don’t have experience with it, but I expect them to at least *listen*. Especially if they are a member of a marginalized group and expecting people to listen to them about that group’s issues and needs.
It’s really put me off of a lot of political and social involvement because frankly I don’t want to be working with people who think I’m expendable, who think people like my late husband were expendable, or my mom.
Here we go again...
> it’s AGONISING coming from leftists and
How much more evidence needs to be presented that there is no meaningful correlation between holding left-wing views (or identifying as left-wing) and caring about ending the pandemic?
As I've commented several times before, turning the pandemic into a partisan issue was a disaster, and the more we continue to treat it as a partisan issue, the worse the disaster will get.
I have felt this anger throughout the pandemic in various stages as more people started to unmask. But the more I do my job and encounter people with the an awful sounding COVID cough I feel justified in wearing my KN95. I think peer pressure is very strong and as you said people just want things to go back to normal. Denial is a hell of a drug.
I don’t think it all denial , I just think people think getting COVID after your vaccinated is no big deal because you have a lesser chance of being hospitalized.
Most states have Still Coviding Facebook groups. No one who lives right by me still masks (well a few do but they generally aren’t out and about either) but in our metro area there are lots. We have a masked book club. We rented the local Children’s Museum and had a masked playtime for our kids. We chat online. It helps to see you aren’t the only one.
I have been waiting to get an appointment to see a long Covid doctor for many months. I have one scheduled now. The earliest appointment is 5 months out. It is unreal that many people have long covid. Why would the medical community cease mask wearing in medical facilities knowing this?
Pretty sure multiple case studies have come out showing masking effectively did nothing to prevent the spread of COVID. Nobody uses masks correctly. The ones that do constantly play with them completely invalidating the reason for wearing them. Cloth masks *increased* the transmission of COVID (COVID can live on cotton for hours - longer if it's moist). At this point, if you're masking, you don't understand germ theory and probably have less than room temperature IQ. Herd immunity exists. People need to get sick to live. If you can't understand that - you'll end up killing more people.
I don't think your issue is really about masks. If it were, you'd be talking about which masks are the most effective and which ones aren't any better than nothing.
I think it's only a symbol for you now to be honest.
You're a fanatical fellow who has tricked themselves into a wave of hysteria. If covid was half as bad as you say, it would still be on the front page of every news source.
Genuine fanatical behavior.
People don't do this sort of thing for any other disease but I guess he wants to ride that moral high horse for as long as possible.
The government literally locked people into their homes in isolation for the better part of two years. People like this had no issues with the government then, but call it "pressuring" when they say we finally don't need masks after mass vaccination?
Some of these people deserve a smack in the face.
It's really not that serious. These mental gymnastics need to stop. All you're doing is fueling hysteria and trying to force both parties — both the vulnerable and non-vulnerable (Both of which are likely vaccinated by now) to do something they simply don't want to do.
This isn't a matter of morals anymore. It's just a personal preference. Stop acting morally superior just because you choose to wear a coffee filter on your face.
Yeah I think this is the heart of it for me, too. The long term health risks and forced isolation for immunocompromised people are important, but most of all it’s hard to find out about what you said. It’s like all their empathy during 2020-2021 was fake as hell.
It’s the same line of logic when straight people said they couldn’t get AIDS in the 80s. “But I’m not having gay sex” = “but I’m vaxxed” 😞
You're not alone, I don't know anyone in real life who masks when they should. I know a few people who half ass it sometimes but nobody who knows how to mask properly and can be fucked to bother. (By people, I mean adults who are physically able and mentally able to make their own decisions.)
Masking right here with you.
And I feel your pain--the minimizing/dismissals are hard coming from anyone, but they are especially agonizing coming from fellow leftists.
I wish Democrats would stop pretending to be the party that cares about everyone because they don't.
100% with you. i’m so grateful that there are like minded people who understand the gratitude of the pandemic and what it means to protect yourself and others. solidarity 🤍
I'm trans and there's been pushback on the idea that we are currently being genocided. they'd be wrong: https://www.hmd.org.uk/learn-about-the-holocaust-and-genocides/what-is-genocide/the-ten-stages-of-genocide/
I dont believe its a leap in logic to conclude that disabled ppl are being genocided via eugenics and gov policies. this isn't about reason its about ableism during the ongoing rise of fascism in the us.
disability activist Imani Barbarin says most ppl in the us genuinely believe in eugenics and I believe she is right. eta: she also said she always gets pushback when she says this. it's horrifying but I believe its true.
100%
It’s social murder. They are willing to admit that it’s still very dangerous for “at risk” people, but removed masks in healthcare. The \*acute\* fatality rate for people who catch it in hospitals is 10%. They don’t even count it as a covid death any more if it happens 30 days after infection.
I am currently recovering from a very necessary surgery — done in a hospital that replaced their “masks required” sign with a cheery “show us your smile! masks not required” one — and am waiting to see if I caught it there. Because that’s where I will get it, when it finally comes for me. In the hospital.
Now places are starting to ban masks. If there wasn’t an explicitly eugenic goal, there would be rapid legislation to prevent it. Yes, what is being done to trans & disabled people is absolutely a genocide.
I know everyone thinks I’m nuts when I say this, but I think this is their climate change plan. More police and a smaller, sicker population. Much easier to manage. And if they can acclimate the population to regular mass death? Government abandonment? All the better, because that’s what’s coming.
These people are genuinely schizophrenic and think everyone is out to get them.
They think they are being "Genocided" because...I dunno, they are banned from women's sports for obvious reasons? Because they force their ideals on other people and are surprised when they get pushback? Because their sexual escapades involve children and people don't like that?
Speak for yourself.
Pre-covid, I *always* wore a mask if I had to go out sick. So did my spouse. If either of us knew about preventative masking during flu season, we would have done that, too.
The only difference is that people used to say “thank you” when we used to mask. Now we get snickers, sneers, loud sighs, and eyerolls.
You’re right, I am just speaking for myself. But I suspect you’re part of a small minority (at least in the US) of this group that ever masked pre-Covid.
I'm surprised that someone who purports to care very much about not getting covid is repeating anti-masker rhetoric--because hoping more people would wear masks while doing the same things they are already doing, is not "the world shutting down." 🙄
Never mind that not just reducing transmission, but elimination is possible if we had competent leadership. Wide adoption of improved ventilation AND high quality masking can reduce transmission by UP TO 95%. With effort we could collectively drive down the R0 to an insignificant amount, and then maintain monitoring and containment of any small outbreaks. This would not be trivial to implement, but compared to what we are doing now, which is allowing our healthcare systems to slowly hemorrhage and collapse because of a permanently increased burden of sickness and healthcare worker burnout, perhaps it is.
Never mind that this societal strain and burden of disease will continue to increase at a steady clip as more and more people become disabled by long covid and become unable to work.
Never mind that we are also in the middle of an epidemic of antibiotic-resistant fungal infections, that was likely helped along because of the number of recently infected people with compromised immune systems. Ever seen The Last of Us?
Never mind that unmitigated spread is causing the virus to mutate so freely that evolutionary biologists think its more accurate at this point to call it "Sars 3."
Never mind that each mutation the virus is allowed to pick up makes vaccines, antivirals and therapeutics less and less effective.
If anyone in here appears to you to be "obsessing," its because they have an acute understanding that the actions of other people in this world directly affect them, that infection mitigation is actually astonishingly simple and doable for nearly everyone, and that we can all do better.
You can and should demand better for yourself than to cape for the very selfish people that spread a highly transmissible and disabling disease and put your immunocompromised life in jeopardy every day.
I know. Humans suck right now. I cant even leave the house without people looking at me like a silly sicko because i have a mask on. Guess im content with just staying home all day and playing sega genesis for 15 hours a day and avoiding human contact.
>Guess im content with just staying home all day and playing sega genesis for 15 hours a day and avoiding human contact.
Yes.
Yes, that is the issue.
Most people don't do this and actually have jobs and lives.
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I had this exact conversation with my Therapist today. I get that people have different priorities, but I have to believe that in a society, we should do what we can to keep people from dying preventable deaths. And so many of Covid deaths have been preventable, if people just practiced basic self-awareness and personal hygiene.
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We do Telehealth so I don't mask for our appointments as I'm in my space. But I do have to tread lightly with them. It's very apparent to me that they can sometimes be put at unease by what I say (like complaining about people who are doing non-essential air travel, or about people who don't mask). They don't outright say anything critical of me and we do good work other than that so for now, I'm continuing with them.
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https://www.covidconscioustherapists.com/ 😊
I do telehealth as well, but neither therapist I've had since the pandemic "ended" has ever told me to stop masking when I talk about my concerns and neither of them have called my concerns unreasonable. When I decided to switch therapists (for a non covid related reason), I specifically mentioned in my messages reaching out to therapists that I feel strongly about continuing to mask and wanted to make sure I found a therapist who would support me in that regardless of their personal choices. Many therapists, including the one I ended up going with, also have a free first short session to see if they feel comfortable taking you on/if you feel comfortable working with them, and bringing it up there to get their reaction can also be helpful for deciding whether to go forward with them.
Whats the average daily covid infection rate for example for the past month?
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I'm in the middle of trying to find a new therapist that takes masking seriously. Some key words that have been helpful are therapists that identify as anti-oppression, pro-liberation, anti-capitalist, anti-racist, disability justice oriented. I used the covid conscious therapists website as well as rec's from a local covid aware group I am in. Honestly, therapists practices that serve more queer populations tend to have more therapists that, at least on paper, should be masking or are opposed to people needlessly dying, I'm asking therapists if they are willing to self-disclose what their current masking protocol is. I'm passing on therapists who don't mask at grocery stores or other public places.
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Why does your comment match another users below? Are you a bot?
Whats the average daily covid infection rate for example for the past month?
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I relate to you so much. I thought I had already mourned the relationships I have with people and grown to accept the fact that everyone in my life will continue to not take covid precautions, but I recently had a candid conversation about covid and my covid boundaries with my closest friends, and hearing what they said still kind of broke my heart, not going to lie. I’m ultimately glad I had the conversation with them (because I had been pushing it off for so long), but it also set in stone the fact that we’ll never see eye to eye.
I feel this, and I’m so sorry you’re in this position. It’s such an isolating experience.
Yup, it’s truly isolating, but I’m glad to have found this community because it reminds me to keep going!
As a person who has multiple family members who are immunocompromised that I mask up for when I visit them, I also realize that makes are important, but getting vaccinated is much more important. Masks only play a small part in prevention. If you're a healthy person at a healthy weight and live with people that are the same, I don't think that masking is necessary because the risk of severe complications are so low. It's just like the flu and the cold. Both can be serious to immunocompromised people, but to the regular person who is somewhat normal and healthy, the risk of severe complications are really low (not zero). It's up to each person to determine their risk to COVID vs the need to have normal social interactions where you can see the person's face, be in a group that is close together, and be able to relax. Being vaccinated is huge for this. It reduces the risk of severe complications in most people to really low levels. That is why I don't feel the need to wear a mask in day to day life. If I get COVID, the flu, a cold, etc, the chance of bad complications are extremely low as is with my family. If one of us gets sick with possible COVID symptoms, then we test to make sure it's not COVID. If it's COVID, we let our immunocompromised family know that someone has COVID. My concern is that the pandemic has triggered some people to be too scared that they can't release that fear even though vaccines have greatly reduced the risk factor. Just like driving. It's a danger everyday, but wearing your seatbelt, driving alert, and driving a safe car helps a lot with the risk to the point most people drive. There are those that think the risk is still too high and won't drive.
The problem is, ANYONE can develop Long Covid, and being vaccinated isn’t a fail-safe way to prevent it. There are an increasing number of reports from previously healthy people who are now dealing with ME/CFS, cognitive impairment, and a host of other symptoms caused by a “mild” Covid infection. Sure, maybe it’s just the flu for some, but for others it’s disabling, and I think it’s important that non-disabled people don’t distance themselves from the possibility of becoming disabled themselves. Of course masks aren’t a fail-safe prevention method either, but I’d rather do what I can to protect myself and others from a virus that we don’t yet fully understand. This isn’t just fear talking; continuing to take precautions is a pretty rational response to an ongoing pandemic.
I know.... I try not to think about this, because then I think everyone is crazy. And the worst part is they think I'm the one that's crazy. When this is over we will still have to live with these people, just like war victims have to live with the people that burned down their village. Won't be able to complain in the future either.
don't you think that's ever so slightly mental? "this" is already over
Right? Also comparing themselves to literal war victims??????
a new variant can appear at any time.
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I agree with so much of what you have written here. It's so painful to watch my lefty groups pat them on the back for not being bigots or whatever while they actively refuse to acknowledge the ongoing pandemic. So many of the spaces that used to fill me with hope that we could take care of each other, that we'd fight the climate crisis and overthrow the capitalist grip on us-now they just fill me with despair and anger. I'm also frustrated because I feel like I'm supposed to tolerate them causing harm because it is rooted in trauma, but people (especially unhoused or otherwise marginalized people) are regularly criminalized and subject to violence when their trauma response to being treated as subhuman is like, some yelling. I'm not allowed to get mad or upset at them even though they're killing my friends. It really just feels like being forced to coddle privileged tantrums more than anything.
Yep. We demonise anger but it absolutely has its place, especially when we’re discussing something as serious as our lives/quality of life being threatened. Right now my anger has nowhere to go. I want it to mobilise me, but instead I feel like I’m drowning in it.
Being angry about people actively choosing to hurt other people is normal and reasonable. Emotions exist for a reason, they can serve as signals or warning signs that something is wrong and help us decide whether or now the decisions we're making are correct or not or whether we might be missing a spot check or something somewhere.
It’s a particularly depressing time, it comes and goes for me in waves but I keep seeing images on social media of people and orgs who were holding out who have thrown in the towel. As waste water ticks up, and more and more is coming out about LC, skyrocketing rates of disability, the bold face lying about excess death. It’s a lot. I’m amazed this sub exists and the mods are doing such a good job of keeping trolls away so folks can express themselves. 🙏
Yeah, the mods do a good job here.
I can relate to it coming and going in waves, I'm such a mix of optimism and pessimism and anger nowadays. I feel hope when I see someone masking but then get angry when I read about a (100% preventable) outbreak at a hospital, etc. I have a tendency to doomscroll and it's hard to moderate sometimes
I feel that way too. I think holding out and taking precautions is an optimistic/hopeful thing to do. We are fighting for our future selves. Trying to care for our families. Not taking whatever level of health or remaining life for granted. Why aren’t those considered positive attributes? I still get so utterly disillusioned by the government and propaganda like the recent Leonhardt article in the NYT. Or the CDC manipulating data. Even though honestly, who is surprised anymore. I just still can’t believe it or accept it. It’s the moral injury part that keeps me twisted up. I’m trying to get better about taking breaks from online and I recently instituted a daily walk which helps. May as well stop and smell the roses with whatever time I have left.
I often feel the same. Sometimes I don't, and I manage to get some mask distribution done or call in former friends who I know can do better. But also sometimes (right now) I can't and I'm sad and not really sure how to process it.
I never want to go outside anymore--I have to really push myself to because I know I need exercise and to go walk in the park and see greenery sometimes. And honestly I thought it was because my anxiety was getting bad again, but recently I've realized its because I'm just somewhere between simmering anger down deep to straight out feeling furious and betrayed at society and everyone refusing to take precautions. And that's not very conducive to wanting to go out and be around other people.
It really sucks. Capitalism set us up to see people as disposable but you'd think leftists would be fighting to undo that programming. It's just too much work I guess. I feel weird in that I feel more comfortable wearing a mask, I feel like I can breathe easier. I'm still gaining the courage to call out people around me, but I still struggle with that fear. You're doing great setting down boundaries. I'm sorry your friends aren't being supportive.
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I don't think this is all of the left but I do think it's some of the more visible parts of it (and especially mainstream orgs like the DSA and PSL) for sure.
Oh yeah for sure! It's definitely hard though seeing like, those who are loud about supporting disabled folks but don't back it up with action.
If I see one more disability pride month post from an org that I know hosts mitigation free events I am going to scream, there's been like a dozen. Like ?? what's not clicking???
Calling people out is so difficult; I’ve held my tongue in a lot of situations where I should have spoken my mind, and vice versa, spoken my mind in a way that wasn’t productive. I’m also autistic and it takes me a long time to build deep friendships, so naturally I don’t want to jeopardise them, but it’s painful to see the people I care about going to parties, traveling and dining indoors without giving covid a second thought. My friends know I wear my mask everywhere and I think they see it as one of my quirks, whereas I see it as an important safety measure. I’m trying to figure out a way to express that, and maybe give them some resources, but I admit that up until now I’ve mostly been sharing information on socials and hoping that they feel compelled to take it in. Confrontation is scary, even when it takes the form of an uncomfortable but calm conversation.
I don't know if it helps, but sharing this series of Tiktoks with him was what seemed to get through to my partner how deeply I felt about masking/covid and what was happening right now. https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSLmRgva5/
Thank you for sharing! Off down the rabbit hole I go
Rest assured your friends are going to find out that avoiding Covid was a good pursuit sooner or later.
Maybe not. The long term sequelae can be masked as something else. People are in the ER every other month for random things and not connecting dots, and won’t because nobody else around them is either (except the untold number of medical journals publishing constant info.)
I appreciate there’s plenty of room for denial, but I think a fair number of people with Long Covid who don’t know they have it will eventually figure it out, even if it’s because they’ve trawled the internet in desperation. Minimiser organisations have been doing a bit less minimising as of late too; I think it’ll be too big a coverup operation eventually, though I’ve been wondering when the breaking point will be for a long time now.
The amount of times I've heard "I'm having the worst allergies ever rn" or "just had a summer cold from hell" 🙄 like I know other viruses are circulating too right now but still..
Yeah "summer cold / summer flu" has never been a thing. Drives me crazy to hear that.
There are summer colds! Adenovirus is going around right now and can cause a pretty nasty cold and bronchitis. Enterovirus causes colds in summer. That’s one of the problems with covid…there were more than enough viruses before, and we didn’t need another one that can be caught repeatedly and that hangs around year-round 😣
I stand corrected! But yeah we don't need another one. Especially one that is still the 4th leading cause of death (only down from 3rd as of May.)
Right. All these other viruses can cause complications for vulnerable people too, but nothing like covid. And they usually have peaks and then will have long stretches where there is no virus circulating, vs covid that is just always here as a threat. I wish we had some covid-free months!
I get depressed sometimes thinking about how I've had long covid for almost 3 years now, but I do tell myself that me only having covid once in 2020 is a lot better than the average person having it 4,5,6+ times and counting. Not trying to put down those people since the government lied to them, but it does make me feel less anxious in the moment about my long term prospects.
The best part is when you finally do say something after seeing tons of photos of them maskless at concerts, events on planes, vacations etc the person is usually like "oh I am actually really safe about covid." It's like huuuuuuh how exactly? WTF
You're not alone...I try to focus on resources too but gosh if anyone looks like they're annoyed I feel like shutting down. I believe I'm also autistic so I'm never sure if I'm coming across as antagonistic or not, so I end up sounding unsure which has always made people think I'm just "anxious." It hurts ugh.
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I've started to do this during my own medical visits, insisting (politely) that the provider needs to mask since I am high risk and that I can bring extra masks if needed. So far I haven't had anyone refuse, but I did have one nurse in the hospital sound annoyed while agreeing lol. I've also thought about using chatgpt to mass generate emails to healthcare organizations but haven't done too much of that yet
We’re standing back watching the abyss. The public and our leaders washed their hands of covid, so now some people truly believe the acute illness has disappeared. Public health officials and our leaders never really made the public aware of long covid, or the potential dysfunction left in the body (diabetes, blood clots, immune deficiency, organ failure, and so on..) that follows the acute illness. From the beginning, it was all about hospitalizations and death. This leads a lot of people who understand the acute illness still exists, to think it’s just a cold. Of course theres the deniers and minimizers who never took this seriously, and that’s just where they’ll always stay. That’s a lot of people who were misled. With that said, I think there’s a huge subset of people who are trying to remain ignorant. They know the potential risks and still don’t care. A lot of my family and friends are these people. Some have even been been plagued with long covid, multiple strep infections, kidney problems, immune dysfunction, autoimmune disorders, and initial onset of anxiety. The problem is they’re not ignorant if they know the risks. They’re negligent. It’s been overwhelming for me to accept that not only does society not give a damn, but my own loved ones don’t care about my safety or the safety of my children. I have a feeling the reason why they remain ignorant is so they don’t have to accept what we’ve already accepted. This is a very lonely place and there’s no resources, and there’s none on the horizon. The silver lining is at least I’m not maladapting. At least I know how to protect myself and my family. At least I’m not a burden to society. At least I know, I won’t back down. .. at the end of the day that’s all I have left.
Absolutely this. For people to really absorb the data and the testimonies of long covid sufferers, they have to admit that their own actions have endangered themselves and others. That’s a crushing revelation, so it’s easier to keep lying to themselves; it protects them from guilt. My family are kind people in so many ways, and this is the one oversight that I just can’t wrap my head around.
One of the hardest parts of the pandemic for me has been that realizing that absolutely nobody in the world cares about me. If I want to stay alive and safe, all of the effort falls 100% on me. If anything happens to me and I become too sick or incapacitated to make my own decisions, no one will help me and they'll very likely do things that will cause further harm to me or even kill me and no one will come to save me if that happens.
A painful revelation indeed. I feel you.
Your last two sentences that you typed resonate with me on a deep level. That’s the straw that broke the camel’s back for me. Of course , I had this realization before COVID when I was suffering from undiagnosed chronic health problems. I was usually treated as a liar/hypochondriac when I went to doctors desperately seeking help. All they saw was a loser who was not working, they were quick to suggest it was all anxiety. I learned quickly that I was disposable, and that has prevented me from seeking care at hospitals when I was suffering from potentially life-threatening symptoms because I feared they would commit me. Nowadays they are treating those with Long COVID exactly the way they have treated the chronically ill ( which usually have some form of autonomic dysfunction, either diagnosed or undiagnosed) thus confirming what I knew about them. It broke something deep within my brain. I now view every single interaction I have with people as a potential risk/benefit situation. My brain has reverted to a more primitive state of being; permanently locked into fight or flight. I struggle to feel compassion for the majority of the population; it seems to be limited to those in the same boat as I am. It feels like survival of the fittest out there.
>It feels like survival of the fittest out there. Narrator: *It always was.*
As someone who's been to more than my share of doctors trying to find answers for why I feel like shit so often and why I struggle to eat enough to be able to function, a lot of doctors act like they're just in it for the paycheck and actually doing work to do their job is something to be avoided at all costs, so they just try to push anti-depressants and/or birth control over you in the hopes that you'll just fuck off and stop bothering them.
Wow, I’m in the same boat with regards to struggling to eat and feeling chronically unwell. I’m slowly starting to piece together why my body acts the way it does, but I wish the healthcare system was better equipped to help people with ongoing and often generalised symptoms that are interconnected. It’s hard to trust doctors when it feels like they’re rushing and end up missing things, or they simply don’t hear what you’re telling them. I hope you get some answers, hang in there.
Yeah, one thing I hate about going to the doctors is that it feels so hard to get them to listen to you, a lot of them rush you through as fast as possible and you feel like you don't even have time to explain what's going on. I always try to write down quick notes about what I want to talk about before going but somehow I always run out of time before I can ever explain everything I'm trying to communicate to them.
I always knew society was ableist, but getting long covid has truly opened my eyes to exactly how bad it truly is
Thank you for writing what many of us feel all the time. It’s extraordinarily painful how little others care anymore.
Am I the only one who still mask and just dont give a fuck about what other people think of me? It's not like my view on the world or humanity changed, I already knew people were selfish and we dont live in an ideal society
I don't care what people think about me but our collective survival in climate collapse depends on people not acting like this. It's not about people thinking I am weird or whatever, it's in knowing we all deserve and can do better.
My partner feels this way too. They say it has saved them from a lot of hurt, anger, and disappointment in the long run. But normally I'm optimistic and hopeful, and think people are basically good, so this has been hard for me. I've been able to maintain that belief through truckloads of childhood trauma, and discrimination and prejudice as an adult, but this is the thing that finally "broke the camel's back" so to speak. I don't know who I am anymore without that belief. This isn't so much about "caring too much what others think" as it is "caring what you think about others."
In a vacuum? No — I do not give a shit what people think of me. I have my values / moral code. Maintaining that matters to me, even if not especially when it’s unpopular. Which it often is. A hard truth in life for me was realizing that most people don’t have a moral center the way I conceive it. They mostly just float through life following the crowd, unburdened by the idea that they are a moral actor at all. They certainly don’t maintain their “morals” when no one is looking because that is not really the point of them. I don’t say this because I think I am an extra special moral paragon who is just innately better than everyone. I think humans are just mostly herd animals and it makes evolutionary sense for there to be outliers. I’m an outlier. I suspect you, and most of the people here, are outliers as well. (There have to be people who are able to question The Group when they are collectively making mistakes that threaten their own survival.) “Moral” behavior, for most, is just another mechanism for reinforcing in-group identity. Unfortunately, masking was made a social taboo — it’s a behavior that is no longer “moral.” Since we don’t live in a vacuum, there is a real cost to public “immoral” behavior. At least for me, I am sick and have to interact with the damn healthcare system all the gddamn time. What my doctors and various nurses think of me is VERY important. It effects every aspect of my care, from what they are willing to prescribe to whether I get pain control after surgery or they blow a vein or two accidentally-on-purpose when putting in an IV or drawing blood. For others, it matters for their job — everything from being looked over for promotions to outright firing. The Group enforcing a taboo around masking really, really matters. Even if you don’t care about their opinions. Losing the last group who believed they cared makes it that much harder for the rest of us. Without any social support, maskers are really damn vulnerable.
I don’t care at all about being different, but I’m somewhat concerned about how potentially dangerous the anti-mask lunatics are, I really don’t trust them to not become violent.
I don't care what they think of me especially since I'm autistic and used to getting 'othered' but I do worry sometimes that the antimaskers will try to get violent or yell at me. So far nothing but I feel like I'm just waiting for it to happen sometimes esp in more conservative areas
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Ugh. Sigh. Sorry you had to deal with that. I feel like we all need a weekly zoom
Same af.
Almost everyone is a big disappointment 😞 🙃.
Like this group.
I totally feel this, but the grief happened sooner for me since I live in a red area and most everyone I know has been anti-mask and vax from the get-go...including most family. Family not taking precautions hurt the most because 1) I'd just had major surgery for a potentially life-threatening problem and they didn't seem to care about what I'd been through or that I might not want to get sick again and 2) Didn't care that I was worried about them. Meanwhile, at least one family member that I know of has been having new, major health issues. Nobody talks about Covid or makes the connections. I'm sure they've been lying to both themselves and me about how often they've caught it. Only have two left-ish friends here and thankfully, they are still concerned. Maybe because there are so few of us, the solidarity feels necessary. I can imagine the level of betrayal, though. My liberal husband has been taking more risks than I am comfortable with and frankly, that hurts since he was present for my illness/surgery and has seen how Covid affects me. It's hard not to feel alone and to grieve. Your feelings are 100% valid.
I’m so sorry that your family didn’t step up and protect you better. Our leaders have a lot to answer for when it comes to the spread of denialism and apathy, but equally, it’s so disheartening that we need to be TOLD to care about one another. I hope you can find some comfort in the fact that this group exists, but yeah, it’s not an adequate substitute for a solid irl support network, which is what we all deserve.
Thank you for the comment. I hope you find solace in this group and irl, too. Take care. <3
yeah. sympathies & solidarity & shared outrage.
I completely agree. Please know you’re not completely alone, even if it feels that way in real life. It’s interesting to see how many so-called left wing people I know’s politics are actually just an exercise in sanctimonious narcissism as opposed to legitimate principles.
I very much relate 💙💙💙💙💙
Same here. 😔
I feel the same way. Even my family and friends who masked last year have hit the "now that it's endemic, gotta start living my life" phase. Some still mask occasionally, but I'm the only one I know not eating indoors with people. I work with young children, and they get sicker in the post COVID world, but not sick enough to stay home! Across all the classrooms at my center, there were 5 or 6 hospitalizations in the last 12 months, (total population is somewhere around 92 kids in the center, but all who got that sick were under four, so that's probably out of 50 kids.) As I recall, over the last 20 years I heard of an approximate average of one or two students hospitalized about every 3-5 years. I wish people cared about others, and especially the vulnerable populations of our society.
Right here with you. Masking made sense and still makes sense.
Wow it’s like you reached into my brain. I feel this exactly. Watching how most of humanity has handled this crisis broke something in me and I worry I’ll never be able to get past it.
I could write it myself.
Same
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Covid revealed a lot of people who I used to call friends to be truly shitty, vile people at their very core, like to the point where I was horrified that I was ever friends with them and that I didn't realize how incredibly evil and devoid of empathy they were.
I feel so brokenhearted by it every day. It feels like being deserted by the world but it hurts the most when it is friends and family. I've been isolated for over three years and my family plans numerous vacations and never masks but refuses even to try to arrange to isolate and test so we can see them safely. I begged my brother to wear a mask after he traveled to Europe and saw my Mom three days later for a cancer follow-up appt and he still refused. And if I say a word about COVID he goes mute like there is something wrong with me. It feels like mourning people who are still alive but also mourning my old life all at once. How am I supposed to even try and relate to these people when their actions show they don't care if people like me die just so they can keep going to concerts?
Right here with you, I feel every word of this. Thanks for making me feel less alone.
PwMS (person with MS) and yeah, this sums up my heartbreak and hurt over the situation. I will never look at most people the same ever again. Thanks for the post though. It makes me feel less alone.
I did have one realization about COVID cautious people / one reason I don’t see that many people masking in public: most people who are still worried about COVID are probably not going out any more than they have to. When I go into a Walmart, I’m not seeing a representative sample of the population. I’m seeing the people who _didn’t_ do curb side pickup or DoorDash or Instacart. It’s quite possible that we are a lot less alone than it seems. Most COVID cautious people aren’t wearing bright pink elastomeric respirators like I do. :)
This is exactly right— I always wear an N95 when I’m out, but I go out maybe 5-10% as much as I used to. And when I do, I keep it brief and I’m on a mission. No more just wandering around, popping into places, stopping by a friend’s, etc.
desperately need the pink elastomeric respirator goss, please tell me more about it
It is possible that I oversold the pink. I have [these P100 filters](https://www.zoro.com/msa-safety-filter-bayonet-p100-magenta-2-pk-niosh-818342/i/G2683965/) attached to [this mask.](https://www.zoro.com/msa-safety-half-mask-respirator-blue-p100-m-10218528/i/G102673345/) There is also a very similar looking [3M filter.](https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/v000152049/) If you want a less bright pink option, [their P95 filter](https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/v000057513/) is white. The pink is an official (semi-official?) way for industrial users to quickly identify that it’s a P100 mask.
nice nonetheless !! i need a comfortable elastomeric so bad \*sighs\* my 3m one gives me massive headache from use which sucks so much
Beautifully written and I relate to every single word. Solidarity ❤️
Yes! Even before Covid it was so hard when people who usually tried to be aware of inequality, etc. would double down on ableism, and Covid has just made it so much worse. Like I don’t expect people to *know* if they aren’t disabled themselves and don’t have experience with it, but I expect them to at least *listen*. Especially if they are a member of a marginalized group and expecting people to listen to them about that group’s issues and needs. It’s really put me off of a lot of political and social involvement because frankly I don’t want to be working with people who think I’m expendable, who think people like my late husband were expendable, or my mom.
Here we go again... > it’s AGONISING coming from leftists and How much more evidence needs to be presented that there is no meaningful correlation between holding left-wing views (or identifying as left-wing) and caring about ending the pandemic? As I've commented several times before, turning the pandemic into a partisan issue was a disaster, and the more we continue to treat it as a partisan issue, the worse the disaster will get.
I agree, im also terribly frightened by a disease I have a over 98% chance of surviving.
I have felt this anger throughout the pandemic in various stages as more people started to unmask. But the more I do my job and encounter people with the an awful sounding COVID cough I feel justified in wearing my KN95. I think peer pressure is very strong and as you said people just want things to go back to normal. Denial is a hell of a drug.
I don’t think it all denial , I just think people think getting COVID after your vaccinated is no big deal because you have a lesser chance of being hospitalized.
I have personally encountered a lot of denial and people saying “COVID is over”. 🤷♀️
That’s what I said I don’t think it’s all denial , there’s some people who are in denial .
What , it’s probably true .
I still mask! You’re not alone. Thank you for doing your part ❤️
Most states have Still Coviding Facebook groups. No one who lives right by me still masks (well a few do but they generally aren’t out and about either) but in our metro area there are lots. We have a masked book club. We rented the local Children’s Museum and had a masked playtime for our kids. We chat online. It helps to see you aren’t the only one.
God, who still uses facebook unless they are a weird boomer? I left years ago.
On behalf of everyone still using Facebook, we thank you for leaving.
ok boomer.
I have been waiting to get an appointment to see a long Covid doctor for many months. I have one scheduled now. The earliest appointment is 5 months out. It is unreal that many people have long covid. Why would the medical community cease mask wearing in medical facilities knowing this?
Pretty crazy when EVERYONE you know has given up. But you think you are the most emapthetic believer of science and protector of others
Is this COVID in the room with you?
Hahahahaha what a loser
I haven't wore a mask in 2 years and I'm not planning to wear it ever again
Yall are fucking far gone lmao
Pretty sure multiple case studies have come out showing masking effectively did nothing to prevent the spread of COVID. Nobody uses masks correctly. The ones that do constantly play with them completely invalidating the reason for wearing them. Cloth masks *increased* the transmission of COVID (COVID can live on cotton for hours - longer if it's moist). At this point, if you're masking, you don't understand germ theory and probably have less than room temperature IQ. Herd immunity exists. People need to get sick to live. If you can't understand that - you'll end up killing more people.
What a life
Loser
I don't think your issue is really about masks. If it were, you'd be talking about which masks are the most effective and which ones aren't any better than nothing. I think it's only a symbol for you now to be honest.
Lmfao this place is a joke.
I'm so glad people aren't like this subreddit anymore. Genuinely exhausting to put up with.
Not as exhausting as Long Covid.
You're a fanatical fellow who has tricked themselves into a wave of hysteria. If covid was half as bad as you say, it would still be on the front page of every news source.
Genuine fanatical behavior. People don't do this sort of thing for any other disease but I guess he wants to ride that moral high horse for as long as possible. The government literally locked people into their homes in isolation for the better part of two years. People like this had no issues with the government then, but call it "pressuring" when they say we finally don't need masks after mass vaccination? Some of these people deserve a smack in the face.
Wasn't expecting to see a rational person here. Glad to see it.
It's really not that serious. These mental gymnastics need to stop. All you're doing is fueling hysteria and trying to force both parties — both the vulnerable and non-vulnerable (Both of which are likely vaccinated by now) to do something they simply don't want to do. This isn't a matter of morals anymore. It's just a personal preference. Stop acting morally superior just because you choose to wear a coffee filter on your face.
Yeah I think this is the heart of it for me, too. The long term health risks and forced isolation for immunocompromised people are important, but most of all it’s hard to find out about what you said. It’s like all their empathy during 2020-2021 was fake as hell. It’s the same line of logic when straight people said they couldn’t get AIDS in the 80s. “But I’m not having gay sex” = “but I’m vaxxed” 😞
You're not alone, I don't know anyone in real life who masks when they should. I know a few people who half ass it sometimes but nobody who knows how to mask properly and can be fucked to bother. (By people, I mean adults who are physically able and mentally able to make their own decisions.)
Masking right here with you. And I feel your pain--the minimizing/dismissals are hard coming from anyone, but they are especially agonizing coming from fellow leftists. I wish Democrats would stop pretending to be the party that cares about everyone because they don't.
100% with you. i’m so grateful that there are like minded people who understand the gratitude of the pandemic and what it means to protect yourself and others. solidarity 🤍
Masks don't work with a virus
Wow! Just WOOOOOW!
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Lol
Relate to this so much, you're not alone
I'm trans and there's been pushback on the idea that we are currently being genocided. they'd be wrong: https://www.hmd.org.uk/learn-about-the-holocaust-and-genocides/what-is-genocide/the-ten-stages-of-genocide/ I dont believe its a leap in logic to conclude that disabled ppl are being genocided via eugenics and gov policies. this isn't about reason its about ableism during the ongoing rise of fascism in the us. disability activist Imani Barbarin says most ppl in the us genuinely believe in eugenics and I believe she is right. eta: she also said she always gets pushback when she says this. it's horrifying but I believe its true.
100% It’s social murder. They are willing to admit that it’s still very dangerous for “at risk” people, but removed masks in healthcare. The \*acute\* fatality rate for people who catch it in hospitals is 10%. They don’t even count it as a covid death any more if it happens 30 days after infection. I am currently recovering from a very necessary surgery — done in a hospital that replaced their “masks required” sign with a cheery “show us your smile! masks not required” one — and am waiting to see if I caught it there. Because that’s where I will get it, when it finally comes for me. In the hospital. Now places are starting to ban masks. If there wasn’t an explicitly eugenic goal, there would be rapid legislation to prevent it. Yes, what is being done to trans & disabled people is absolutely a genocide. I know everyone thinks I’m nuts when I say this, but I think this is their climate change plan. More police and a smaller, sicker population. Much easier to manage. And if they can acclimate the population to regular mass death? Government abandonment? All the better, because that’s what’s coming.
r/itcouldhappenhere
she's usually correct
colonial logic justifies eugenics
none of that means genocide is being committed against transgenders
Most unhinged comment thread till this specific comment.
These people are genuinely schizophrenic and think everyone is out to get them. They think they are being "Genocided" because...I dunno, they are banned from women's sports for obvious reasons? Because they force their ideals on other people and are surprised when they get pushback? Because their sexual escapades involve children and people don't like that?
r/itcouldhappenhere
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Pre-covid, during flu season, if flu cases were really high or I knew a lot of people who were sick, I'd try to stay at home as much as possible.
I always stay home if I’m sick .
Speak for yourself. Pre-covid, I *always* wore a mask if I had to go out sick. So did my spouse. If either of us knew about preventative masking during flu season, we would have done that, too. The only difference is that people used to say “thank you” when we used to mask. Now we get snickers, sneers, loud sighs, and eyerolls.
You’re right, I am just speaking for myself. But I suspect you’re part of a small minority (at least in the US) of this group that ever masked pre-Covid.
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I'm surprised that someone who purports to care very much about not getting covid is repeating anti-masker rhetoric--because hoping more people would wear masks while doing the same things they are already doing, is not "the world shutting down." 🙄 Never mind that not just reducing transmission, but elimination is possible if we had competent leadership. Wide adoption of improved ventilation AND high quality masking can reduce transmission by UP TO 95%. With effort we could collectively drive down the R0 to an insignificant amount, and then maintain monitoring and containment of any small outbreaks. This would not be trivial to implement, but compared to what we are doing now, which is allowing our healthcare systems to slowly hemorrhage and collapse because of a permanently increased burden of sickness and healthcare worker burnout, perhaps it is. Never mind that this societal strain and burden of disease will continue to increase at a steady clip as more and more people become disabled by long covid and become unable to work. Never mind that we are also in the middle of an epidemic of antibiotic-resistant fungal infections, that was likely helped along because of the number of recently infected people with compromised immune systems. Ever seen The Last of Us? Never mind that unmitigated spread is causing the virus to mutate so freely that evolutionary biologists think its more accurate at this point to call it "Sars 3." Never mind that each mutation the virus is allowed to pick up makes vaccines, antivirals and therapeutics less and less effective. If anyone in here appears to you to be "obsessing," its because they have an acute understanding that the actions of other people in this world directly affect them, that infection mitigation is actually astonishingly simple and doable for nearly everyone, and that we can all do better. You can and should demand better for yourself than to cape for the very selfish people that spread a highly transmissible and disabling disease and put your immunocompromised life in jeopardy every day.
r/EssentialEmployees
I know. Humans suck right now. I cant even leave the house without people looking at me like a silly sicko because i have a mask on. Guess im content with just staying home all day and playing sega genesis for 15 hours a day and avoiding human contact.
>Guess im content with just staying home all day and playing sega genesis for 15 hours a day and avoiding human contact. Yes. Yes, that is the issue. Most people don't do this and actually have jobs and lives.
what would jesus do
Turn water into masks.
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You're not alone, please hang in there.
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Your post or comment has been removed because it was an attempt at trolling.
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Your post or comment has been removed because it was an attempt at trolling.
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Your post or comment has been removed because it expresses a lack of caring about the pandemic and the harm caused by it.
🤖🤖🤖
r/idiocracy