Anyone out there who has gone "back to normal" when:

1. Covid obviously isn't over and researchers are out there pointing out we're heading towards disaster.
2. We watched them sociologically end the pandemic in real time at the request of businesses, completely at odds with science.
3. Immunocompromised folks are literally out there begging people to mask and not abandon them the way the government has.

Is a Full Stop.

My local anti-corporate anti-cop, etc alt. pride event was masks-required and it really re-opened my eyes in a way. I still have masks, and try to use them in crowded places or if I feel off, but I've been slipping and I didn't know a single person who is still masking like, on the daily. So going and seeing hey, here's several thousand people (minimum) and all are masking, almost all with n/kn95, was really nice to see and makes me want to be more vigilant.

I don't think you're at all wrong to be disappointed. These aren't random people, these are people who know you, know your situation, and still can't just like, put a mask in their bag and wear it to see you? The whole "fear of covid" angle that libs love to take is bullshit. You don't have to be afraid of something to take a basic precaution. I'm not afraid to ride my bike, even though statistically there's a risk that I get maimed or killed by a car every time I ride it. But I do still usually wear a helmet (and n/kn95 masks straight up are probably more effective than helmets if some research I've seen is to be believed.) It's not "fear" (or lack thereof) causing people not to mask, just social pressure and laziness.

I can understand the sentiment that Covid is “over” since absolutely nobody takes it seriously or takes any preventative measures now. The media has completely stopped reporting on it and the CDC has even stopped counting COVID related deaths. Society seems to have decided to just move on, consequences be damned.

However, it still hurts every time I hear people completely dismiss it as a thing of the past when my own mother fucking died from it just six months ago. Yeah, please let her know that it’s over and not to worry, that’s what killed her. Sure, the average young healthy person has been vaccinated and/or already had it multiple times so it’s no big deal to them but there are still a LOT of other at risk groups that could easily die. It’s not like the virus has been eradicated, we’ve just collectively decided that those people’s lives are worth less than going to a packed Taylor swift concert.

So no, it’s not unreasonable at all to ask your friends to show some basic fucking respect and wear a mask around you and your partner. People are still dying from covid every day so I don’t question the validity of your concern in the slightest. If your friends are actual comrades and capable of understanding the way Covid deaths have been politicized perhaps a gentle reminder that the current administration is doing its best to sweep ongoing Covid deaths under the rug to give Biden a “win” would help

NOPE! While I try not to actively show it, I do harbor resentment towards my friends who have gone "back to normal". The main difference is that my friends are mostly libs, so its not unexpected or surprising, but still frustrating and sad.

Disability solidarity defines the left just as surely as Palestine solidarity or trans solidarity. Unchecked covid will make everyone disabled over time, and unchecked health chauvinism will make it easier to forget those who drop out of public life, whether by developing debilitating long covid conditions (acknowledged as such or not), or by adopting lonely precautions, or both.

Also masking makes it less simple for cops and cameras to ID you, and can be an accessible and immediate source of relief for trans people who want to conceal unwanted puberty effects on their face. The more people stubbornly mask, the more cover is offered to the most exposed and vulnerable, along multiple intersections.

When you wear a mask, you're wearing communism. When you refuse to wear a mask, you're wearing the emperor's new clothes

Threads like this are a really great window into how fucked up western progressives really are about very basic and simple principles. you all want me to believe you’re going to do shit for a revolution when you think you’re invincible and constantly whining about putting a thing over your face when you go out? it would be incredible if it weren't fucking us over all for the sake of a pint at flanigans or whatever other asinine garbage we’ve decided is worth throwing away the future. libs until proven otherwise now and forever.

I don't think it's weird to be disappointed, but also any other answer is going to get removed according to the rules of comm

masks are a good litmus test cuz it's something that actually makes a material difference at the cost of your social capital and looking cool. Really easy to see what people value more. I know so many people that love posting radical stuff on instagram but somehow cant put on a mask.

As long as Covid is around you are right to be disappointed. I will always wear a mask

nah I'm extremely disappointed too

I don't get in fights about it anymore, but I think I've just sort of slipped into a general depression over it all

There are people on this very website who sit inside the Covid death traps called movie theaters to watch their slop and expect you to just ignore the fact that they're sitting in the Covid death trap. They can't even patiently wait a couple of months to watch a pirated copy of the slop. No, they insist on sitting in the Covid death trap to watch their slop.

Forget the outside world, Covid normalization has thoroughly penetrated even here. Just look at all the posts that are being removed in this very thread.

Honestly, if its people that know your situation and you've pointed it out multiple time and they still go meet you unmasked, then no. Its not weird to be disappointed.

No, not at all especially since mask bans are really taking off. Leftists who stopped masking have abandoned any pretense of critical thinking and ability to shape the world. Pure pessimism that is straight depressing. And really, to not wear a mask for a couple hours to see a good friend is so selfish. brain rot

This reminds me of the PSL covid commercial Clauda De La Cruz and Karina Garcia put out for their presidential campaign. big sigh

weird, yes, because "normal" people in the west are garbage about this

overreacting, no. we need excuses for the lack of terror

I totally thought this was going to be about hiding your lefty power level and not literal masks because i never read what comm things are posted in

Absolutely not. I work in the public sector and masking is socially definitely not ok. So to be able to earn a living, I have given up my safety and the safety of my partner and replaced it with avoidance of all I can avoid and a nasal spray. I mask whenever I get to do things in my own way.

This is a country where I have not seen a single mask in years now and not heard a single person irl voice concern about covid. Meanwhile me and my partner have had a rough time with the virus every time, although I suppose less than the people doing "normal" as I for example opted out from in person studies fully last winter due to the wave and everyone being sick.

Non-masking as a hegemonic position literally shuts people out of society. I would have loved to be present for my own bacherol seminars, but it didn't feel safe. It erodes the very participation libs always love to bang on about. And it's very much a class issue. It's workers like me that die from it, care workers, immigrants, women, the poors, the disabled, elderly. It's also a whiteness issue. White people, even leftists, stopped caring the moment they understood that their privileged asses are safer.

If masking is a personal choice, you also have the personal choice to not hang out with people who are inconsiderate.

Masking is definitely a niche thing now, but dammit, it should be our niche. We should be proud of taking care of each other.

Of course, masks as a symbol of non-sanctioned solidarity will result in more public mask bans like here in NC, but defying shitty laws is cool and good

you are not overreacting at all. It is infuriating and I've even caught myself wondering if even having events with mandatory masking is too risky