The dead are bushed an' stoned to keep 'em safe below

[sovay]

Rabbit, rabbit! I am having a great deal of difficulty with my state continuing to reopen as our delta cases spike. I was obliged to be inside two buildings for purposes of errands this afternoon and while I appreciated that more masks were in evidence than not, it did not make me feel as safe(r; safe as an absolute has been out of the question for some time now) as it might have even a month ago. I was just about the only person wearing a mask on the street. Somerville is recommending indoor masking, but not requiring it; Massachusetts as a whole has not reinstated the mask order it rescinded in May. We are officially no longer in a state of emergency. Please ignore the rates of community transmission blooming red across the map. It feels a bit like living in that blown-off splinter of reality in Diana Wynne Jones' Witch Week (1982), except I don't think there's much chance of merging into a healthier worldline. As of this week, spatch has returned to work in person. At least he is mostly interacting with dust.

Comments

[kathmandu]

Right there with you on this. I have retreated into grimly pessimistic and self-protective single-masking at work (I have to talk, and my voice does not carry well); double-masking on errands; and continuing to mask every single time I leave the house.

Hong-Kongers said it was easier (as in less mental effort) to mask up every time than to be constantly alert for other people's nearness and vectors, and to avoid going into buildings on impulse because one had not brought a mask, and they were right. Instead of getting quarantine fatigue, I got into a quarantine groove. Wish more people had...

I did go shoe-shopping recently, since mine are worn out and I have to try new ones on in person. Six out of ten people in the athlete-oriented shoe store were masked, including all the visible staff.

[sovay]

I have retreated into grimly pessimistic and self-protective single-masking at work (I have to talk, and my voice does not carry well); double-masking on errands; and continuing to mask every single time I leave the house.

*hugs*

I can't say it isn't sensible, but I'm sorry it's harder to make yourself heard through a double mask.

Hong-Kongers said it was easier (as in less mental effort) to mask up every time than to be constantly alert for other people's nearness and vectors, and to avoid going into buildings on impulse because one had not brought a mask, and they were right.

I hadn't thought about it till this minute, but agreed. I did not change my protocols and therefore don't feel suddenly wrenched out of normal life again.

Instead of getting quarantine fatigue, I got into a quarantine groove. Wish more people had...

I'm pretty sure I have quarantine fatigue, but that's because there's still a plague on, not because I have to wear a mask! I am also fatigued of other people and their willful refusal of reality, but that's not new, either, alas.

Six out of ten people in the athlete-oriented shoe store were masked, including all the visible staff.

I really feel that if staff are going to be masked, it is the minimum of courtesy to be protective of them in return, but see above.