As I sit in my office building for 8 hours with a mask on, listening to people around me act like it’s over. I am counting down the seconds till I can be back in my house, safe and sound.

  • BashfulBob [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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    3 days ago

    Pre-vaccine COVID was significantly scarier, especially in the early incarnations of the virus when the death rate was at its highest.

    We’re getting back to flu being the predominant lethal strain of disease… which fucking sucks, because masking and hygiene and distancing had put the biggest dent in flu mortality in my lifetime. But its becoming a poor / vulnerable / elderly disease problem instead of a People Who Matter problem, because there are so many effective (expensive) interventions available to treat it at onset.

    • nothx [he/him]@hexbear.netOP
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      3 days ago

      Don’t get it twisted, this conversation was not between people who understand the nuances of public health. It was the treat brained people who yearn to be in the office and eat shitty pizza with their colleagues.

      COVID is still scary, I wouldn’t be wearing a mask 8 hours a day at my email job if it wasn’t. I also like avoiding the flu and all the other illnesses that we as a society have deemed okay to spread to each other.

      This was merely a rant post because it pains me to sit at my desk behind a bunch of people who minimize my concerns and experiences. I totally see your point tho, and don’t mean to belittle it.

      • BashfulBob [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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        2 days ago

        The post-COVID degradation of general preventative care and the anti-vax hysteria might be playing a role, as well. How many hospitals don’t have enough saline to treat the influx of flu-victims during the peak of the season? How many clinics and ERs have simply shuttered due to skyrocketing costs and skinflint insurance companies? How many elder care facilities have lost too many staffers (traditionally popular jobs among now-unwelcome migrant workers) to function as anything except morgues?

        Even absent the threat of COVID, domestic society is being hollowed out by finance and private equity.