Has anyone else noticed this?
First people seemed shellshocked, then a nice period of solidarity and unusual friendliness. Now it seems like it's starting to wear on people and the crankiness is coming out.
Come on, we can get through this. Let's hang together!
Oh, the other thing I've noticed is that people appear to be suffering from cabin fever, and when they finally do go out, their driving is a bit...well...I'd describe it as the way kids go charging out the schoolhouse door on the last day of school. A lot more speeders on the nearby main road, including drag-racers in both cars and on motorcycles. Also, traffic seemed down the first week of our lockdown, but now it seems a lot heavier. Where is everyone going??
shareThis I haven't noticed. Well, the cabin fever, yeah, but not charging about in their vehicles as a way to release all the pent-up energy.
shareYes, I’ve noticed. People on walks used to say hello in passing, now that is happening less often. Neighbors just cross the road to keep distance and gaze ahead like zombies. Our shops look like war rationing stations where everyone lines up, masks on, then get in and get out quickly. Every day gets more inhuman, inanimate, faceless, and monotonous. Depressing.
shareIt's the same thing here. I think a big contributing factor is the masks. Without being able to see people's mouths, a lot of their expressions are missing. There's no point in smiling at others if they can't see it. Fewer people smiling isn't a good thing because we all feel better when we smile. It's neurological.
Plus it's just weird seeing so many people with masks. Before we could feel more normal.
But, this will speed things along so masks it is for now.
Yes, the masks depersonalize everyone. Yet most people near me don’t wear masks on walks, just to shop, but their faces are still grim.
shareThis I haven't noticed. I can't get outside and talk around like before, although some are wearing masks even in wide open spaces. Maybe half. Didn't see grimness on the few I ran into, but that lovely "Oh hi! We're all in this together, how are you doing?" vibe I'd gotten before isn't as common.
shareBecause it's all BS. This thing hasn't begun to touch on the death toll for an average flu season yet, but we're expected to act like it's f'ing armageddon. The whole thing is ridiculous, and tends to make people with functioning brains cranky.
shareReally? Flu killed 62,000 Americans since last October. COVID has killed over 10,000 Americans in just the past 4 days. Plus there is no vaccine or Tamiflu type treatment for covid. When has flu ever overwhelmed the ERs across huge cities and entire regions of countries? When have mass grave sites and refrigerated trucks been used to deal with mounting corpses?
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