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Awfully quick to judge eh? I agree with everything the parent comment said, and I: 1. Live alone 2. Have not worked for nearly a year now. Technically I’m on leave due to extreme burnout, so I’m even more hosed (can’t collect unemployment). 3. (see below) Have been dealing with a wicked combo of depression/anxiety/ADD/OCD for 20+ years now, but the last 3 or so have been worse. I’ve been extremely isolated for the last year—I’ve spent countless days in bed, not eating my first meal until 11pm. I was just starting to improve in February, trying to get back on my feet and out into the world. My lifelines were the climbing gym (social+exercise time) and libraries/coffee shops. Luckily I (finally) got into a therapist in January, which is still available and co-pay free. Despite all this, I think the lockdowns were a necessary emergency response to the crisis, with one major caveat—we did (and are doing) too little, too late, and too incompetently. It was glaringly obvious back in February that we needed to start taking measured action to mitigate the spread of the virus (as other countries—Taiwan, NZ, SK, etc did). Our response was an abject failure of reason and leadership, and I hope no one ever forgets that. So although I’m pretty thoroughly fucked, I’m adapting and surviving. In many ways, it’s comforting and galvanizing to have a common cause to rally around. My attitude is that this crisis could be a catalyst for profound personal and societal growth. And therein lies the source of some genuine hatred that is beginning to bubble up towards people that aggressively flaunt even the most basic courtesies and precautions, like wearing any form of nose/mouth covering whatsoever when inside a building. Just yesterday I saw a couple (in their 60s) stiff arm the door greeter at WF who was handing out free mask. It was nonstop people brusquely walking headlong into me. This says nothing about the unhelpful binary thinking around open vs. closed, economy vs. health, normal life vs. totalitarianism. Society’s tool of choice for preventing and solving unfolding catastrophes seems to be to pretend they don’t exist and give up, to reflexively fracture ourselves rather than come together to solve a challenge. And I find that to be the most profoundly depressing thing of all. |