6 ms·

I mean this question with all respect. For those of you who error towards caution with COVID, do you prefer the world as it is under coronavirus restrictions?

I mean this question with all respect. For those of you who error towards caution with COVID, do you prefer the world as it is under coronavirus restrictions? Again I am asking this with sincerity, if we could blink away COVID but keep the world as it is (remote work, limited travel, acceptable reason for isolation etc.) would you prefer that world? I hate the world COVID has created . I hate seeing everything through the lens of infection risk. I hate sacrificing childhood to save elderly. I hate masks. I hate that my glasses fog up. I hate working out wearing a mask. I hate that I couldn’t see my father as he died in an ER. I hate that I can’t enjoy a simple meal with friends. I hate being talked down to. I hate remote meetings. I hate the little condoms they put on remotes in hotel rooms. I hate taking my cat to the vet and waiting in the car. I hate paying some poor person a pittance to deliver my meals. I hate that students have to stay at home. I hate that I love alcohol. I hate that I am judged for hating these things. I hate that I have to wear a mask outside, despite it being utterly pointless, due to social pressure. I hate that I’ve ideated suicide more in the past year than the previous 34 combined. I hate this pandemic. And fuck you if you make me feel like I’m selfish for hating this pandemic

csdvrx 5y ago
> I hate that I’ve ideated suicide more in the past year than the previous 34 combined. Ouch. What about a less "final" idea, like moving to the midwest or Texas? Here we mostly don't care about such things, so it's business as usual!
- PraetorianGourd 5y ago
  I’ve considered it. I’m not in any way thinking of moving from ideation to realization. But ideation is scary enough
  - sysOpOpPERAND 5y ago
    first of all, i agree. it sucks. it wiped out my business, i have asthma and it feels like i can't breath wearing a mask. i live in washington state. my advice is don't move to washington state if you don't like covid-19 extraness. you would not like it here. we still have a 5-10 person limit at many stores. basically tons of places look like people are waiting in line for a rock concert. as much as i love the mountains and the coffee i am thinking about moving to a less over the top state. it's rough, hang in there and maybe try and move to another state if it keeps clawing at your mental health.
dataflow 5y ago
> do you prefer the world as it is under coronavirus restrictions? What present restrictions are you referring to? Could you list a few of the most onerous ones? I know there mask mandates in lots of places currently, and I know earlier in the pandemic there were severe restrictions on gathering indoors and such (and I'm not here to defend or condemn them), but what restrictions are there besides mask mandates that are currently causing you grief? I actually don't know. (Are you in the US? or is this about another country?) I've been trying to guess them from the things you listed, but it's not clear to me, e.g. I don't quite know what restrictions are imposed on you that prevent you from having dinner with friends.
- PraetorianGourd 5y ago
  I am in the US. Where I live masks are required indoors under all circumstances regardless of vaccine status. Indoor dining has been allowed for a few months now but there’s talk of introducing restrictions again. It’s not so much how it is today, it’s the damage yesterday had done. And it’s the sword of Damocles that hangs over us all at the whisper of a new variant
  - cma 5y ago
    Your mask isn't fitting right if it is fogging your glasses. Check for tips on fitting or other solutions like medical tape over nose bridge.
    - AstralStorm 5y ago
      There are also masks that come with additional foam gaskets or have a fully moldable outline, not just the nose piece. I had a problem where the masks either leaked at the nose or right where the nose wire ended no matter what I did. Got some of them with foam gasket, no problem anymore
  - Gortal278 5y ago
    I would move to Arizona, COVID was only there for a few weeks. Phoenix is over it completely.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
peppermint_tea 5y ago
sorry to hear for your father. I do love remote meetings though, I can mute myself and go do something else.
- vidoc 5y ago
  > I can mute myself and go do something else. That's exactly what Jeffrey Toobin said as well :P
  - peppermint_tea 5y ago
    hahaha, was worth google'ing it
- PraetorianGourd 5y ago
  It is hard to understand what matters most in life, I’m glad you’ve found what really matters to you.
renewiltord 5y ago
It’s rubbish, isn’t it? But all that is past for most of us. I just came back from a bar in SF and I don’t think I wore a mask anywhere in it. Hung out with loads of friends. Had a great time. SF is usually Restriction Central so it doesn’t seem like life is particularly bad now. Personally, I rather like this interstitial time where the scared remain home and I am free to roam with my friends. Traffic and lines are better.
- clairity 5y ago
  > "Personally, I rather like this interstitial time where the scared remain home and I am free to roam with my friends." i've been saying all along that the default policy positions should have led directly to this outcome. everyone sorts themselves into risk profiles and everyone is happy with their risk exposure. but that doesn't appease political ambitions, so we don't get that.
rich_sasha 5y ago
Sounds like you’re having a rough time. I feel for you, pro or against Covid. There is definitely a cost to all this and it must be taken into account. That said, there is a light at the end of this tunnel. Life in the UK, where vaccination rates are very high, is pretty much normal. Everything is open. Masks were optional until the Omicron scare, we’ll see how it goes. Nurseries, cinemas, restaurants all open, pretty much as normal (cleaner than in the past which is a win). Maybe it will get worse again but let’s hope not. Without making hyperbolic comparisons, life is much better net than it was under Bubonic Plague. We’ve seen the alternative to paranoid infection regimes, and it’s total chaos and overwhelmed hospitals. So we’ve been dealt a shit hand and trying to play is as best as we can.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- qazwsxedchac 5y ago
  > life is much better net than it was under Bubonic Plague With all due respect, that's whataboutism. Life is much better than it would be under Ebola, too, but the issue here is that overall quality of life has deteriorated for most humans over the last two years due to the restrictions and interventions related to Covid-19. > Life in the UK, where vaccination rates are very high, is pretty much normal. In the UK, but also in many other previously liberal democracies the following are happening at present: - Freedom of association and freedom of assembly are being made conditional or removed. - Freedom to travel is being made conditional or removed. - Freedom to just take part in daily life, e.g. go shopping is being made conditional. - Freedom to protest is being reduced or removed. The rule sets under which all this is happening are capricious, changing frequently, based on mostly political considerations with only a sprinkling of scientific reasoning. This removes agency from each of us. Whether one becomes subject to a restrictive rule by the accident of becoming infected is mostly outside the control of any one person. So this, too, removes agency from each of us. I see entire countries descending into learned helplessness, while political elites flout the rules they make for others and exploit the urgency of procurement caused by the pandemic to enrich themselves. This is not a world I want to live in. Improved acceptability of WFH doesn't come close to compensating for all the above.
mrblampo 5y ago
Hey, you are very much not alone. It sounds like these various aspects of isolation have really affected you a lot, and I'm so sorry to hear that how things were with your dad in the hospital. That's terrible. You've written your question for people who you say err more toward caution than you imply that you do, saying that it is out of genuine curiosity, rather than out of contempt. I hope that's true. I'm sure there must be some especially introverted people who prefer the world the way it is with the most cautionary measures of 2020 in place, but I think most people who support these cautionary measures also dislike them. Where does that leave us? You are allowed to resent the world, and the people who have imposed all of these measures, for harming you in the way that they have. We are all allowed to feel any feelings about anything, including people who have lost loved ones to covid and resent the non-mask-wearers for it. I don't know how to explain the difference between your feelings and many other people's feelings on covid restrictions. For my own part, they have felt difficult, but not unjust. Hang in there. Exercise, even just a very little bit, if you are not already. It helps so much with everything, including perspective. Once the vaccines become approved for toddlers and hopefully older babies, I'm hopeful that restrictions will really start to ease. Hope I haven't made you feel selfish or talked down to. That's not how I think of you based on your post.
xscott 5y ago
I agree with every single thing you said, but I don't have a cat. I could also tack on another dozen things I hate about all of this.

csdvrx 5y ago

> I hate that I’ve ideated suicide more in the past year than the previous 34 combined. Ouch. What about a less "final" idea, like moving to the midwest or Texas? Here we mostly don't care about such things, so it's business as usual!

PraetorianGourd 5y ago
I’ve considered it. I’m not in any way thinking of moving from ideation to realization. But ideation is scary enough
- sysOpOpPERAND 5y ago
  first of all, i agree. it sucks. it wiped out my business, i have asthma and it feels like i can't breath wearing a mask. i live in washington state. my advice is don't move to washington state if you don't like covid-19 extraness. you would not like it here. we still have a 5-10 person limit at many stores. basically tons of places look like people are waiting in line for a rock concert. as much as i love the mountains and the coffee i am thinking about moving to a less over the top state. it's rough, hang in there and maybe try and move to another state if it keeps clawing at your mental health.

dataflow 5y ago

> do you prefer the world as it is under coronavirus restrictions? What present restrictions are you referring to? Could you list a few of the most onerous ones? I know there mask mandates in lots of places currently, and I know earlier in the pandemic there were severe restrictions on gathering indoors and such (and I'm not here to defend or condemn them), but what restrictions are there besides mask mandates that are currently causing you grief? I actually don't know. (Are you in the US? or is this about another country?) I've been trying to guess them from the things you listed, but it's not clear to me, e.g. I don't quite know what restrictions are imposed on you that prevent you from having dinner with friends.

PraetorianGourd 5y ago
I am in the US. Where I live masks are required indoors under all circumstances regardless of vaccine status. Indoor dining has been allowed for a few months now but there’s talk of introducing restrictions again. It’s not so much how it is today, it’s the damage yesterday had done. And it’s the sword of Damocles that hangs over us all at the whisper of a new variant
- cma 5y ago
  Your mask isn't fitting right if it is fogging your glasses. Check for tips on fitting or other solutions like medical tape over nose bridge.
  - AstralStorm 5y ago
    There are also masks that come with additional foam gaskets or have a fully moldable outline, not just the nose piece. I had a problem where the masks either leaked at the nose or right where the nose wire ended no matter what I did. Got some of them with foam gasket, no problem anymore
- Gortal278 5y ago
  I would move to Arizona, COVID was only there for a few weeks. Phoenix is over it completely.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

peppermint_tea 5y ago

sorry to hear for your father. I do love remote meetings though, I can mute myself and go do something else.

vidoc 5y ago
> I can mute myself and go do something else. That's exactly what Jeffrey Toobin said as well :P
- peppermint_tea 5y ago
  hahaha, was worth google'ing it
PraetorianGourd 5y ago
It is hard to understand what matters most in life, I’m glad you’ve found what really matters to you.

renewiltord 5y ago

It’s rubbish, isn’t it? But all that is past for most of us. I just came back from a bar in SF and I don’t think I wore a mask anywhere in it. Hung out with loads of friends. Had a great time. SF is usually Restriction Central so it doesn’t seem like life is particularly bad now. Personally, I rather like this interstitial time where the scared remain home and I am free to roam with my friends. Traffic and lines are better.

clairity 5y ago
> "Personally, I rather like this interstitial time where the scared remain home and I am free to roam with my friends." i've been saying all along that the default policy positions should have led directly to this outcome. everyone sorts themselves into risk profiles and everyone is happy with their risk exposure. but that doesn't appease political ambitions, so we don't get that.

rich_sasha 5y ago

Sounds like you’re having a rough time. I feel for you, pro or against Covid. There is definitely a cost to all this and it must be taken into account. That said, there is a light at the end of this tunnel. Life in the UK, where vaccination rates are very high, is pretty much normal. Everything is open. Masks were optional until the Omicron scare, we’ll see how it goes. Nurseries, cinemas, restaurants all open, pretty much as normal (cleaner than in the past which is a win). Maybe it will get worse again but let’s hope not. Without making hyperbolic comparisons, life is much better net than it was under Bubonic Plague. We’ve seen the alternative to paranoid infection regimes, and it’s total chaos and overwhelmed hospitals. So we’ve been dealt a shit hand and trying to play is as best as we can.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
qazwsxedchac 5y ago
> life is much better net than it was under Bubonic Plague With all due respect, that's whataboutism. Life is much better than it would be under Ebola, too, but the issue here is that overall quality of life has deteriorated for most humans over the last two years due to the restrictions and interventions related to Covid-19. > Life in the UK, where vaccination rates are very high, is pretty much normal. In the UK, but also in many other previously liberal democracies the following are happening at present: - Freedom of association and freedom of assembly are being made conditional or removed. - Freedom to travel is being made conditional or removed. - Freedom to just take part in daily life, e.g. go shopping is being made conditional. - Freedom to protest is being reduced or removed. The rule sets under which all this is happening are capricious, changing frequently, based on mostly political considerations with only a sprinkling of scientific reasoning. This removes agency from each of us. Whether one becomes subject to a restrictive rule by the accident of becoming infected is mostly outside the control of any one person. So this, too, removes agency from each of us. I see entire countries descending into learned helplessness, while political elites flout the rules they make for others and exploit the urgency of procurement caused by the pandemic to enrich themselves. This is not a world I want to live in. Improved acceptability of WFH doesn't come close to compensating for all the above.

mrblampo 5y ago

Hey, you are very much not alone. It sounds like these various aspects of isolation have really affected you a lot, and I'm so sorry to hear that how things were with your dad in the hospital. That's terrible. You've written your question for people who you say err more toward caution than you imply that you do, saying that it is out of genuine curiosity, rather than out of contempt. I hope that's true. I'm sure there must be some especially introverted people who prefer the world the way it is with the most cautionary measures of 2020 in place, but I think most people who support these cautionary measures also dislike them. Where does that leave us? You are allowed to resent the world, and the people who have imposed all of these measures, for harming you in the way that they have. We are all allowed to feel any feelings about anything, including people who have lost loved ones to covid and resent the non-mask-wearers for it. I don't know how to explain the difference between your feelings and many other people's feelings on covid restrictions. For my own part, they have felt difficult, but not unjust. Hang in there. Exercise, even just a very little bit, if you are not already. It helps so much with everything, including perspective. Once the vaccines become approved for toddlers and hopefully older babies, I'm hopeful that restrictions will really start to ease. Hope I haven't made you feel selfish or talked down to. That's not how I think of you based on your post.

xscott 5y ago

I agree with every single thing you said, but I don't have a cat. I could also tack on another dozen things I hate about all of this.