It would be naive to think that Covid won't be a (or the) major topic of conversation at parties and get-togethers with friend and family in the immediate future. This will be incredibly tedious. It sounds like a small thing in the great scheme of things, but given that social contact is one of the things people are most looking forward to, it's going to happen.
I feel like saying, at future social gatherings (if this crap actually ever ends) that I just don't want to talk about it. It feels sometimes like most people around us have joined some sort of weird religious cult and I don't think I can take the proselytising from mask, vaccine and lockdown devotees.
People want, no, not want, need all this to have been necessary, otherwise they'll have to face up to the uncomfortable fact that they've been fooled.
Most won't have the guts to do that. I'm not saying I want to live in an echo-chamber, but there has been 12 months of Government propaganda, and I don't want to hear it repeated again.
Absolutely. It happened somewhat in the summer: I walked past a pub on July 6th, saw it was open and was surprised that I could get in and it wasn't packed to the rafters, thoroughly enjoyed myself, sent a photo in a group chat to say how happy I was for some normality, and all I got back was snide comments about "people putting us all at risk because they can't stay out of Wetherspoons".
I think for many of us sceptics this is a very serious question. There will always be thick skinned people who will say it needn't be a problem but they speak for themselves. I've even found my resolve around even mask wearing wavering because I find the unspoken hostility of many people so unpleasant.
I think there's some comparison with the Brexit vote ( though please if you're a Remainer don't take this personally: we don't want to waste time fighting old battles). But many of us Brexiteers were shocked at the hostility and sheer nastiness of many Remainers who just assumed you were a thick headed xenophobe if you'd dared to vote Leave. The funny thing was that against all odds our side won and it became obvious that much of the scaremongering was OTT. But still I find I tend to avoid the subject and, to be honest, quite a few people on the opposite side who don't seem to be able to drop the subject.
In this case us sceptics have clearly not got a majority on our side. One makes allowances but at the end of the day I won't go out of my way to hang out with some people who I just can't respect as they've shown themselves to be so averse to reason and consumed by fear. I wish them well but it's not going to be much fun to be with them, especially as I'm expecting restrictions in some form to be here to stay thanks to their compliance.
I've often pondered that our situation is similar to that of, say, Jews in prewar Germany or dissidents under Soviet communism. Some radical survival strategies might be needed. I've been making an effort to link up with sceptics, even where we don't necessarily have a lot in common. It's definitely working. I'm finding new friends and we will need to form our own support networks to keep our spirits up.
I don’t have many friends left.
But they can stay out of wetherspoons and anywhere else for that matter then the rest of us could get on with our lives which includes any amount of risk taking.
The bedwetters stay home the awake keep calm and carry on...sorted..
😀
