I agree with this, have since the beginning and it's very unpopular view discussing this on places like HN. I'll never forget a passing encounter I had in Marc

I agree with this, have since the beginning and it's very unpopular view discussing this on places like HN. I'll never forget a passing encounter I had in March 2020 as things were starting to shut down in my area. I was at Lowe's (big box hardware store) and hadn't bought or even worn my first mask yet but knew the CDC was recommending social distance when I literally bumped into an elderly woman in a narrow aisle of the store. I apologized and commented how I didn't hear her come up behind me. Then I apologized again and said I'd step away as I hadn't got a mask yet (she hadn't either but I was being polite as she was obviously elderly/high risk). We chatted for a moment about everything that was going on in the community regarding closures/lockdowns. That's when she said, "this is all non-sense, when I grew up Polio was going around and we still went to school, the world has to keep moving on and life is not meant to be risk free". I have thought about that conversation a lot as time has passed and while unpopular, I believe we over-reacted even given what we knew at the time. It was always going to take a toll but we made it quite a bit more expensive in many ways. Instead of ripping the bandaid off, we'll be pulling it away for quite some time and our kids will be impacted for their entire lives to varying degrees. I have a now 3 year old and in talking with PreK/PK3/PK4 teachers they are already seeing a drastic social/emotional shift of incoming children from the norm. I've heard accounts that slightly older kids have PTSD symptoms from the fear they experienced.