sailors fighting in the dance hall

[the_siobhan]

Today was the quarterly Town Hall at work, which meant going into a team meeting with the entire department at the Mothership. My first time there. I got lost. And I never did figure out how the passcards work.

It's days like today that make me wonder if I really am from fucking Mars.

There are thousands of people working in that building. The floor I was on was crammed solid - people sitting in rows and rows of desk, chairs jammed shoulder to shoulder. I was the only one in a mask.

They served snacks and coffee over break, my boss wanders by. "Aren't you having any coffee?" Um. I'm wearing a silicon sheath over the entire lower half of my face, do i look like I'm going to have a coffee?

This is where I start wondering if I'm the one who's crazy. How can it just be me? 

Comments

[redbird]

My sympathies. It's not just you, and I don't think they realize that this situation is a lot like jumping off a bridge because their friends are. There are situations where jumping off a bridge makes sense, but in those situations, the reason isn't that it's getting lonely up here on the bridge.

[dissectionist]

I keep thinking that what I’m seeing now is the current-time version of how every atrocity has occurred. We are getting to watch in real time as a population is normalized to the death of those deemed expendable, and the simultaneous slow othering of those deemed expendable, so that by the time the deemed-expendables actually suffer their unnecessary deaths, most of the population can collectively shrug and be unbothered.

A lot of scientists recognize the toll; it’s just that they’re no longer being listened to by much of the government, and people don’t want to hear about it anymore because it’s uncomfortable and inconvenient to their plans. One of the doctors I follow actually just covered this lack of interest: https://insidemedicine.substack.com/p/data-snapshot-covid-has-faded-from?

[china_shop]

I know exactly what you mean! (I'm still masking indoors with anyone except my partner, and it can feel really awkward and also, like, has everyone just totally given up trying not to get sick? Like, whaaat?)

You're not alone

[brainwane]

I've had a very similar experience -- someone sees that I'm wearing a mask and still offers me food or drink, I suppose assuming that I might take off my mask to eat/drink it. Because a ton of people do that; they mask EXCEPT when eating/drinking. (On really long trips, I have learned how to lift my mask while holding my breath, sip or eat a bite, lower the mask back down, sharply exhale to clear out the air in the mask, and then chew/swallow.)

Lots and lots of people look to their neighbors and authority figures and society in general for indications of what to worry about, how to protect against it, and when to lower their guard. And they are not very conscientious about double-checking those messages. And there are ways of living, and parts of life, where that approach works just fine. It sure seems more relaxing.

But you are not alone. I'm right there with you.

[sabotabby]

That's every day at my work and I keep wondering if I'm crazy, if I'm reading the studies wrong, if my own trauma with disability is in the driver's seat. I don't know how people can see the risks and make the choices that they do.

[greylock]

Today was the quarterly Town Hall at work
I assume this is like an all staff (or as Americans say: all hands) meeting?

The floor I was on was crammed solid You swiped in. Showed your face, would they know if you left?

This is where I start wondering if I'm the one who's crazy. How can it just be me?

It is not you, but there are dwindling numbers of us.

[solo]

People are so weird. I still wear my (KF94) masks in shops, train stations, trains, taxis... anywhere there's lots of people or poor ventilation. But I know precisely one other person in my circle who does this too, and she's from Taiwan.

People just want to forget about it all and pretend everything is back to normal. Attention spans are short...

[elusis]

I've been traveling for the past 2 weeks. I have a "mask wardrobe" - FloMask respirator for planes, MaskLab KN-95 for indoor situations, same but with SipMask valve installed for live music/performance situations where I might want to drink while partaking.

Hardly anyone I see is masking. Many people are doing it but poorly - I saw a worker in a restaurant working away at his station, mask warming his second chin ever so cozily, and wondered "why is he bothering?"

The hotel we're in right now in Manhattan is full of lawyers. Previously it was full of marathoners. Almost no masks.

[houseof9cats]

Today in this house:

E: "I've routinely walked outside looking much weirder than this ... on purpose."

D: "That's why goths and nerds will be the last ones standing."

[houseof9cats]

BMO did some employee picnic a few months ago and sent everyone an Uber Eats voucher to eat at home. That was cute. Especially because we all got to share. Yeah, I think you're looking at a large subset. There's probably an equally large subset we're just not seeing in indoor spaces right now. My back-of-the-envelope a few months ago was about 30% of people on team fuck off with your mass infection plan. I'm eternally shocked at how many people trust authority.

[kest]

I often think, ok, but the people you see are the people going out, you don't see the people staying home. But a required meeting I assume everyone was supposed to come in, so that makes you being the only one in a mask even more unsettling. :/ I do not understand it. Like, it's not hard to wear a mask most of the time?? For me, anyway. I had a hard time at first, three fucking years ago, but I learned tricks. I have taken occasional extremely calculated risks to eat out a couple times, but most of the time I don't feel like I am losing anything by wearing a mask. Maybe occasionally some probably terrible coffee.

[elusis]

You may appreciate Peste Magazine and articles like this. Also their Snowzzie awards were [chef's kiss].