VeeRat

I hear that 2020 was difficult and traumatic for a lot of people. But for me, and I suspect for many of us who are still Covid-cautious, this year has been the most difficult year yet.

Not only are few people still wearing masks, but mask bans are now happening. Public areas are more and more dangerous, and mask-wearers are now being viewed as criminals.

Family are less and less tolerant of what they now view as subversive behavior from those of us who don’t want to gather together without mitigations.

As more years pass, waiting on medical care becomes impossible, and the likelihood of needing to take the major risk of visiting medical, dental, eye care and other facilities becomes greater. And now with the added risk of even healthcare providers not masking.

This is the hardest year by far. My patience for those talking about the trauma of 2020 has waned.

#Covid #CovidIsNotOver #WearAMask

May 18, 2024 at 5:13pmWeb
Show threadKeepingMySanityMay 18, 2024
@VeeRat Agreed 💯. This is going to be a long year.
Show threadAnthonyMay 18, 2024
@[email protected] I feel this. In my own personal circumstances, earlier in the pandemic was harder for me. But as these trends you describe continue to unfold each new year becomes more and more difficult, and I worry a lot about the future.
Show threadMathew SamuelMay 18, 2024

@VeeRat
Definitely the worst year by far, it's increasingly becoming hard to find fellow careful folks. They are falling one after the other.

I think it's going to get a lot worse before turning around. The early-careless crowd is in the process of finding-out, and soon it will be everyone who's not been careful.

I'm naively holding out hope that some who were late to cave, will come back after being chastened.

Show threaddecapitaeMay 18, 2024

@VeeRat Hurry up November, I need to know what to prepare for: A.) Going to be tortured daily under Trump until he is succeeded by someone richer and even less concerned with mere human wellbeing over personal freedoms as long as they can pay to play.
B.) Trying to survive the worldwide famine because Biden can't dissolve big oil fast enough to make a difference due to people who think they're prepared for end times and hypocritically refuse to let the law apply to them.

Jacket or Umbrella?

Show threadmoondadMay 18, 2024
@VeeRat A month or so back I was the only one masked in a local med center and the hostility to me was quite obvious.
Show threadKniknikMay 18, 2024

@VeeRat I flew to Europe from Australia in 2021. I can’t believe it now. I’ll never do that again but right at that moment, masking was enforced on planes, you had to have a negative PCR to fly and it felt like we were heading in the right direction.

My world is much smaller now than in 2021.

Show threadRuby JonesMay 18, 2024
@VeeRat Same. Hard.
Show threadTransitBikerMay 18, 2024
@VeeRat yep.
Show threadCranky ClownMay 18, 2024
@VeeRat crime rates are not up, at least here in the US.
Show threadcwicseolfor (has moved!)May 19, 2024
@crankyclown @VeeRat And they know that. What they're fighting with mask bans isn't crime, it's the right to dissent. Whatever the reason for masking, chances are you're further left than our mid-right and far-right parties, so that paints a target on anyone doing it as worth disenfranchising; any visibility you have in public is a threat to the seamlessness in the alternative reality they want to drown us in.
Show threadCranky ClownMay 19, 2024
@cwicseolfor @VeeRat exactly.
Show threadMonstrelineMay 18, 2024
@VeeRat I feel this in my bones. I’m trying to relax a little, im trying to embrace a little more risk because I really miss friends but damn I have trouble enjoying myself, or I do for a while and then I suddenly remember that I’m naked and vulnerable and my brain just checks out completely.
Show threadJay LittleMay 19, 2024
@VeeRat You gotta figure out the next chapter and how to move past it bud. Best of luck to ya.
Show threadMme MarpleMay 19, 2024
@VeeRat 🫂🫂🫂✊
Show threadMme MarpleMay 19, 2024
@VeeRat one bright spot is we found a group of cautious parents this year and they are the raddest most amazing people ever. It is a hard year but it’s the first since vaccines that we haven’t been alone.
Show threadDarwin WoodkaMay 19, 2024
@VeeRat The GOP is fucking insane.
Show threadkMay 19, 2024

@VeeRat the only teeny-tiny move in the right direction I've seen in 2024 is an uptick in the number of non-maskers I know coming forward to say they have long covid: these admissions have at least started opening doors for more productive conversations, but it will take a lot more to see real change, I think.

We proclaimed precautions from the early days BECAUSE we didn't want our friends and loved ones to face long covid. Unfortunately it seems it will take them getting long-covid or worse before our warnings are heeded.

Show threadundead enby of the apocalypseMay 19, 2024
@VeeRat it feels weird because in my personal life things have been greatly improving this and last year, and the first few pandemic years were really hard for me not only because of the pandemic but also because of stuff going on in my personal life and my mental health doing a nosedive. But also I’ve never been ridiculed for wearing a mask before last year, and now I’m lucky when I see just one other person wearing a mask on public transport or sth. The feeling that almost everyone but me has chosen to pretend Covid doesn’t exist has never been anywhere near this strong. It feels so alienating and kind of terrifying.