-This is an essay about covid times, not boba tea. Reader discretion is advised-
Realistically, we are about halfway thru the pandemic being a red hot mass killing/disabling event. It seems most Americans have moved on and were more disturbed by the empty shelves and toilet paper panic at the beginning of it all, and will do everything in their power to never give a shit about it again. Combined with the abysmal and actively unhelpful CDC messaging, most people have no idea what is going on or how Covid even works.
The economy! The economy! Who cares about life? We need more blood to grease the gears of the economy!
Well, it doesn’t even make sense from an economic perspective. Yeah, let’s burn out all the medical workers (who were already calloused and sleep deprived before all this), reinfect all the people who tend to you hand and foot again and again and again, and set up the next generation with a ticking time bomb of nuerological and heart issues because actually looking out for them was just…too…much…work. Pyrrhic short term gains in exchange for a total breakdown in the medical system in about ten years. Super uncool.
Rich people really think they can just take the money and run. But it’s like…run where, bitch? Run where??? I bet even Elon Musk (his name is a curse) doesn’t genuinely believe he can go to space. Resources are not going to be infinite in those stupid, stinky bunkers, no matter how much they hoard. It’s kind of funny to imagine all of them turning on each other when they run out of servants, but…I don’t think it’s that funny when the joke is at the expense of the rest of us.
Covid really feels like the bullshit inequality we’ve all had to live with made physically manifest.
There does exist a world where covid is taken seriously inside America, but it’s, ah, the entertainment industry. Their anti-plaugue protocols are inspiring, but it’s depressing that only actors are considered inherently valuable.
Maybe I should have picked up a theater kid proficiency instead? That type of person gives me a headache though, so…ahhhh. It wouldn’t work out.
Despite it all, despite it all, despite it all. I think I’m starting to finally feel solid about the new world we live in. How grateful I am to have made it to 2022 intact!
Not everybody did.
So many people didn’t.
To not only have stayed alive, but have my life actively improve during these times indicates a high level of privilege and I know this. But, I’m not going to sit here and explain the whole context of my life because, you don’t need to play cop and I need to express myself in modern ways, not 2015 era ways.
Because yes, we live in 2022, there is a huge conservative culture wave going, and things generally get worse before they get better.
That doesn’t mean one should be conservative. Just that, when the air around you is toxic, it’s not the best idea to take off your mask.
I have a very specific lifestyle and currently live like a hermit but here are some tips I have picked up that can apply to everyone:
✅️ Think of covid like smoke. You know how the smell lingers and clings to everything? That’s what covid acts like.
✅️ Consider the act of breathing in others’ faces unmasked as rude as blowing smoke in someone’s face.
✅️ If you can get an air purifier, do so.
✅️ The paper bag method is very helpful for saving on mask costs.
✅️ The bare minimum of protection needed right now is KF94 level.
✅️ KN95s are unregulated so don’t trust them.
✅️ If you are one-way masking or are in a high risk situation, then an N95 is best, like the 3M Aura.
✅️ If you get a headache from N95 straps and/or can’t easily take it off (which is killer in the heat), the best compromise is a KF94 with an ear saver head strap.
✅️ If eating with others who do not share the same plague protocol standards, do so outside, distanced from each other.
✅️ Someone being family or friends does not make a situation safe. Only following the swiss cheese method of prevention (masking — vaccines — ventilation — social distancing) makes a situation safe.
✅️ Nothing is guaranteed — neither avoiding covid & certainly not catching covid. But as a rule of thumb, the less viral load in your nose & mouth, the better.
If you have read this essay, I hope this has helped. It’s only when we accept the limitations of reality that we can change it for the better.
As my boyfriend Spock would say…live long and prosper 🖖🏼