Are You the Same Person?

[happyhoix]

Apr 15, 2022 10:02:58 GMT -5 Value Buy said:

Apr 14, 2022 19:06:22 GMT -5 soupandstew said:

Well, if we are going to take this thread really real-I'm maybe more effed-up in some ways, maybe shorter fused, but also way more realistic and weirdly empowered. And that may or may not be a bad thing because my shorter fuse has a whole lot to do with not being as needy as I used to be. That's what happens when you realize you are all you have or ever will have, pathetic as that may be, because folks you called friends, neighbors, or even husband aren't there, never will be, can't psychologically be. During the past 2 years I have become far more outspoken in my marriage relationship. Honestly, the last 2 years have given me a profound sense of release, release from false beliefs in false relationships.

Sorry for the earlier post about democrats, but in my case it is true.
I was good up to about two months ago when democrat friends and family tell me how great Biden is and how he has united the country.
HUH? 

Sorry, but I am done with them. talk about drinking the kool-aid.
No, I am not disowning anyone, but my gosh........so disappointed in people. Some even believe Biden is responsible for the vaccine.

Only other thing is the darn pandemic and so many changes in direction, and yeh, Iget it, as we advance through the different stages we learn more about it. but darn, quit writing and directing the people like everything is written in stone, and you deserve to be hors whipped if you do not comply........
Would it kill them to say, "we got that last directive wrong (or an earlier one) and just admit it? Makes them more believeable, imo

I heard the medical specialists constantly making corrections to their recommendations and explaining why they changed. Maybe you have to be a scientist to hear it. Way back when Covid was first discovered the medical experts said masks wouldn’t help - but they said that from preliminary data generated from the first Chinese data sets, which had a theory the spread required contact with sick people. Then data came out showing exposure could be airborne and masks did help. They did that constantly as more data became available and more variants came along.

Non scientific people seem to think if you board a boat in Miami to sail to Boston, you will stick to that schedule without veering from the course. Of the captain can and will alter course due to a hurricane, or a problem with the boat, or a passenger get sick and needs put off along the way. Of course the captain can and will adjust his route if needed - but if a doctor also alters his course of treatment, he’s a fraud and lying. Makes no sense.

[pulmonarymd]

Apr 16, 2022 13:30:07 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

Apr 15, 2022 10:02:58 GMT -5 Value Buy said:

Sorry for the earlier post about democrats, but in my case it is true.
I was good up to about two months ago when democrat friends and family tell me how great Biden is and how he has united the country.
HUH? 

Sorry, but I am done with them. talk about drinking the kool-aid.
No, I am not disowning anyone, but my gosh........so disappointed in people. Some even believe Biden is responsible for the vaccine.

Only other thing is the darn pandemic and so many changes in direction, and yeh, Iget it, as we advance through the different stages we learn more about it. but darn, quit writing and directing the people like everything is written in stone, and you deserve to be hors whipped if you do not comply........
Would it kill them to say, "we got that last directive wrong (or an earlier one) and just admit it? Makes them more believeable, imo

I heard the medical specialists constantly making corrections to their recommendations and explaining why they changed. Maybe you have to be a scientist to hear it. Way back when Covid was first discovered the medical experts said masks wouldn’t help - but they said that from preliminary data generated from the first Chinese data sets, which had a theory the spread required contact with sick people. Then data came out showing exposure could be airborne and masks did help. They did that constantly as more data became available and more variants came along.

Non scientific people seem to think if you board a boat in Miami to sail to Boston, you will stick to that schedule without veering from the course. Of the captain can and will alter course due to a hurricane, or a problem with the boat, or a passenger get sick and needs put off along the way. Of course the captain can and will adjust his route if needed - but if a doctor also alters his course of treatment, he’s a fraud and lying. Makes no sense.

The idea that medical advice should not change is asinine. Unless you want to treat heart attacks and cancer like we did in 1970, and forgo all medical advances in the last 20 years. This was a novel disease. WE had no prior knowledge as to haw it was act. It has thrown us curveballs.

Just another indication of how anti-intellectual we have become. We can no longer learn about anything. Everything has to be known from the very beginning without any change in opinion.

[nidena]

The last couple years have made me more cognizant of "shopping small", as a whole.  I haven't bought anything from Amazon (with my own money (gift cards are an exception)) in many years but I do still shop at Target and Lowe's.  Until I find a small business that sells the item I'm looking for, that is.

If you do want to shop small and Black-owned, here are a couple resources for doing so:

SHOPPE BLACK
Support Black Owned
We Buy Black

   The other thing that is interesting...unrelated to shopping...is that with so many more people being able to spend time on social media, it's multiplied the number of opinions that hit every single post and it seems like every single one of them devolves into politics.  EVERY.SINGLE.ONE.  Some bounce away from them but so many don't.  I see it on the posts that our local news channels put out.  I see it on the posts that the schools and school districts put out.  But almost none of these people actually show up to express their opinions for the events that actually request them.  It's mind boggling.  And exhausting.

[Opti]

Apr 16, 2022 13:45:33 GMT -5 pulmonarymd said:

Apr 16, 2022 13:30:07 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

I heard the medical specialists constantly making corrections to their recommendations and explaining why they changed. Maybe you have to be a scientist to hear it. Way back when Covid was first discovered the medical experts said masks wouldn’t help - but they said that from preliminary data generated from the first Chinese data sets, which had a theory the spread required contact with sick people. Then data came out showing exposure could be airborne and masks did help. They did that constantly as more data became available and more variants came along.

Non scientific people seem to think if you board a boat in Miami to sail to Boston, you will stick to that schedule without veering from the course. Of the captain can and will alter course due to a hurricane, or a problem with the boat, or a passenger get sick and needs put off along the way. Of course the captain can and will adjust his route if needed - but if a doctor also alters his course of treatment, he’s a fraud and lying. Makes no sense.

The idea that medical advice should not change is asinine. Unless you want to treat heart attacks and cancer like we did in 1970, and forgo all medical advances in the last 20 years. This was a novel disease. WE had no prior knowledge as to haw it was act. It has thrown us curveballs.

Just another indication of how anti-intellectual we have become. We can no longer learn about anything. Everything has to be known from the very beginning without any change in opinion.

My guess is this is not about medical advice. Its about restrictions during the pandemic. The masking, the social distancing, and vaccinations. Much of the right concentrated on how hard they thought they were suffering with the requirements. And it did suck for everyone in the beginning in different ways. 

But we are now in a later phase of the pandemic. I personally can't take the whining seriously especially from people who did not need to mask 8 or more hours a day. I remember co-workers with raw ears, etc. due to mask wearing. 

[laterbloomer]

Apr 16, 2022 13:30:07 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

Apr 15, 2022 10:02:58 GMT -5 Value Buy said:

Sorry for the earlier post about democrats, but in my case it is true.
I was good up to about two months ago when democrat friends and family tell me how great Biden is and how he has united the country.
HUH? 

Sorry, but I am done with them. talk about drinking the kool-aid.
No, I am not disowning anyone, but my gosh........so disappointed in people. Some even believe Biden is responsible for the vaccine.

Only other thing is the darn pandemic and so many changes in direction, and yeh, Iget it, as we advance through the different stages we learn more about it. but darn, quit writing and directing the people like everything is written in stone, and you deserve to be hors whipped if you do not comply........
Would it kill them to say, "we got that last directive wrong (or an earlier one) and just admit it? Makes them more believeable, imo

I heard the medical specialists constantly making corrections to their recommendations and explaining why they changed. Maybe you have to be a scientist to hear it. Way back when Covid was first discovered the medical experts said masks wouldn’t help - but they said that from preliminary data generated from the first Chinese data sets, which had a theory the spread required contact with sick people. Then data came out showing exposure could be airborne and masks did help. They did that constantly as more data became available and more variants came along.

Non scientific people seem to think if you board a boat in Miami to sail to Boston, you will stick to that schedule without veering from the course. Of the captain can and will alter course due to a hurricane, or a problem with the boat, or a passenger get sick and needs put off along the way. Of course the captain can and will adjust his route if needed - but if a doctor also alters his course of treatment, he’s a fraud and lying. Makes no sense.

It's not the altering course that gets everyone so pissed off. It's the insistence on imposing disruptive protocols because "they're the experts" and ridiculing people that question them on it AND THEN changing course and saying well we didn't really know before and now we have more info. And doing that over and over and over. You don't get to have it both ways.

[pulmonarymd]

Yeah, because all these other people know better than they do. This was unprecedented and they were trying to save lives.

[happyhoix]

Apr 16, 2022 18:19:20 GMT -5 laterbloomer said:

Apr 16, 2022 13:30:07 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

I heard the medical specialists constantly making corrections to their recommendations and explaining why they changed. Maybe you have to be a scientist to hear it. Way back when Covid was first discovered the medical experts said masks wouldn’t help - but they said that from preliminary data generated from the first Chinese data sets, which had a theory the spread required contact with sick people. Then data came out showing exposure could be airborne and masks did help. They did that constantly as more data became available and more variants came along.

Non scientific people seem to think if you board a boat in Miami to sail to Boston, you will stick to that schedule without veering from the course. Of the captain can and will alter course due to a hurricane, or a problem with the boat, or a passenger get sick and needs put off along the way. Of course the captain can and will adjust his route if needed - but if a doctor also alters his course of treatment, he’s a fraud and lying. Makes no sense.

It's not the altering course that gets everyone so pissed off. It's the insistence on imposing disruptive protocols because "they're the experts" and ridiculing people that question them on it AND THEN changing course and saying well we didn't really know before and now we have more info. And doing that over and over and over. You don't get to have it both ways.

But that what happens with all new diseases.

Think back on AIDS and SARS. Think about all the flu variations - we never know, each year, just how serious that year’s strain will be.

Sure we could have just told people they were on their own to decide how too avoid catching it and never imposed any kind of restrictions to slow the spread - but I’m glad we tried.

[laterbloomer]

Apr 16, 2022 18:41:16 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

Apr 16, 2022 18:19:20 GMT -5 laterbloomer said:

It's not the altering course that gets everyone so pissed off. It's the insistence on imposing disruptive protocols because "they're the experts" and ridiculing people that question them on it AND THEN changing course and saying well we didn't really know before and now we have more info. And doing that over and over and over. You don't get to have it both ways.

But that what happens with all new diseases.

Think back on AIDS and SARS. Think about all the flu variations - we never know, each year, just how serious that year’s strain will be.

Sure we could have just told people they were on their own to decide how too avoid catching it and never imposed any kind of restrictions to slow the spread - but I’m glad we tried.

You are ignoring the part where you ridicule anyone that questions your conclusions before you decide you had it wrong.
When I think back on Aids I don't remember the story changing. It spreads through an exchange of bodily fluids, which usually means sex or blood transfusion. Has that been changed? And I barely remember anything about SARS.

[Opti]

Apr 16, 2022 18:50:56 GMT -5 laterbloomer said:

Apr 16, 2022 18:41:16 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

But that what happens with all new diseases.

Think back on AIDS and SARS. Think about all the flu variations - we never know, each year, just how serious that year’s strain will be.

Sure we could have just told people they were on their own to decide how too avoid catching it and never imposed any kind of restrictions to slow the spread - but I’m glad we tried.

You are ignoring the part where you ridicule anyone that questions your conclusions before you decide you had it wrong.
When I think back on Aids I don't remember the story changing. It spreads through an exchange of bodily fluids, which usually means sex or blood transfusion. Has that been changed? And I barely remember anything about SARS.

I definitely experienced all of this very different from you and VB. I think I missed all the ridicule except for masks.

The reason you probably remember that about AIDS is you weren't part of the group that was mysteriously dying. It wasn't immediate they found that out and because the government believed it was a gay men's disease, they actively suppressed info on the disease for months. 

In a major health crisis that kills at an unknown rate and is known to spread quickly in places such as skilled nursing, I don't know why you'd want to entertain detractors over and over again. As it was, Fauci was constantly ridiculed and hamstrung by Trump and co. Or does that ridicule not count?

[TheOtherMe]

AIDS was a major health crisis where I lived and at the beginning all that could be done was to extend lives.

I know people in Boulder thought of it as a gay disease with a life sentence.  Well it was also transmitted via using the same needles and through blood transfusions.  I have never donated blood but I think the blood is still being tested for HIV/AIDS before it is used.

I had surgery and needed a transfusion before the blood was being tested.  I called my regular doctor to come advise me before  I signed paperwork in part because he was the local HIV/AIDS doctor.  He had let me stay in his practice because he knew I would treat his patients like they were contagious.  

He confirmed I needed a blood transfusion and said that he would do a blood test in, I think, 90 days.  That's what we did.  

I don't trust the CDC any more, which is sad.  That does stem from what tfg did to the CDC.

[happyhoix]

Apr 16, 2022 18:50:56 GMT -5 laterbloomer said:

Apr 16, 2022 18:41:16 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

But that what happens with all new diseases.

Think back on AIDS and SARS. Think about all the flu variations - we never know, each year, just how serious that year’s strain will be.

Sure we could have just told people they were on their own to decide how too avoid catching it and never imposed any kind of restrictions to slow the spread - but I’m glad we tried.

You are ignoring the part where you ridicule anyone that questions your conclusions before you decide you had it wrong.
When I think back on Aids I don't remember the story changing. It spreads through an exchange of bodily fluids, which usually means sex or blood transfusion. Has that been changed? And I barely remember anything about SARS.

I live in a bright red area. Often I was the only person in a store with a mask on. At my church, they refused to enforce any kind of mask mandate because some people said it scared kids. So the only one getting ridiculed around here were the snowflakes wearing masks. 

at the start of AIDS there was a period where they weren’t too sure how contagious it was. Kids with aids couldn’t go to school because they might give it to classmates. Some people didn’t want to eat on dishes previously used by people with aids. Lots of discrimination. Then they found it could only get transmitted by contact with bodily fluids and wasn’t transmitted by contact - and then they found a way to treat it, and it’s not a death sentence anymore. 

[laterbloomer]

Apr 16, 2022 19:12:02 GMT -5 Opti said:

Apr 16, 2022 18:50:56 GMT -5 laterbloomer said:

You are ignoring the part where you ridicule anyone that questions your conclusions before you decide you had it wrong.
When I think back on Aids I don't remember the story changing. It spreads through an exchange of bodily fluids, which usually means sex or blood transfusion. Has that been changed? And I barely remember anything about SARS.

I definitely experienced all of this very different from you and VB. I think I missed all the ridicule except for masks.

The reason you probably remember that about AIDS is you weren't part of the group that was mysteriously dying. It wasn't immediate they found that out and because the government believed it was a gay men's disease, they actively suppressed info on the disease for months. 

In a major health crisis that kills at an unknown rate and is known to spread quickly in places such as skilled nursing, I don't know why you'd want to entertain detractors over and over again. As it was, Fauci was constantly ridiculed and hamstrung by Trump and co. Or does that ridicule not count?

On the one hand people that were uncomfortable being vaccinated were and are ridiculed for not trusting the scientists. On the other hand you say science is always evolving and decisions are being made before all the information is in. How can you not see how that would piss people off?

[jerseygirl]

We live in a very red (Republican) county in northern NJ. The culture of anti mask anti vac etc absolutely do not apply here. Masking still fairly common here, vaccination rates very high etc. Othrr very republican (and affluent) NJ areas very similar
Perhaps what’s being described is not just ‘red’ political leanings but also reflects lower population density lower education etc Seems it might be too simplistic to attribute solely to political votes

[Opti]

Apr 16, 2022 21:31:15 GMT -5 laterbloomer said:

Apr 16, 2022 19:12:02 GMT -5 Opti said:

I definitely experienced all of this very different from you and VB. I think I missed all the ridicule except for masks.

The reason you probably remember that about AIDS is you weren't part of the group that was mysteriously dying. It wasn't immediate they found that out and because the government believed it was a gay men's disease, they actively suppressed info on the disease for months. 

In a major health crisis that kills at an unknown rate and is known to spread quickly in places such as skilled nursing, I don't know why you'd want to entertain detractors over and over again. As it was, Fauci was constantly ridiculed and hamstrung by Trump and co. Or does that ridicule not count?

On the one hand people that were uncomfortable being vaccinated were and are ridiculed for not trusting the scientists. On the other hand you say science is always evolving and decisions are being made before all the information is in. How can you not see how that would piss people off?

Has there been any back tracking on vaccines? Any? Locally at work people reluctant to get the vaccine were not ridiculed. Coworkers tried reason. I know of former coworkers that never got it. They quit. I know those who took six months or more to get it. By then, it the vaccines had been administered to more people in history I believe.

Your complaint would make some sense to me if scientists or those in charge had ever said, oops we were wrong, don't get the vaccine because it doesn't help. 

[TheOtherMe]

My sister is all in on no more vaccines.  She said she will not get the 2nd booster because we need natural immunity, not immunity from foreign fluids.  

[teen persuasion]

This morning at Easter mass, they brought back wine at Communion. I knew I'd changed, because my first knee-jerk response was "Oh, hell no!".

In the past I've had no real problem with it; I generally don't take the wine, because I don't care for wine, but I was ok with it. Now, there is no way that I think sharing a communal drink (even if they ceremonially wipe the edge and turn the cup) is an acceptable idea. Nope, nope, nope! And, of course, a few of the oldest patrons stepped right up.

I'm aghast that the diocese or church has decided this is ok, right now, as numbers creep up AGAIN.

[Deleted]

Apr 17, 2022 10:10:00 GMT -5 teen persuasion said:

This morning at Easter mass, they brought back wine at Communion. I knew I'd changed, because my first knee-jerk response was "Oh, hell no!".

In the past I've had no real problem with it; I generally don't take the wine, because I don't care for wine, but I was ok with it. Now, there is no way that I think sharing a communal drink (even if they ceremonially wipe the edge and turn the cup) is an acceptable idea. Nope, nope, nope! And, of course, a few of the oldest patrons stepped right up.

I'm aghast that the diocese or church has decided this is ok, right now, as numbers creep up AGAIN.

I never shared the communal drink before Covid. I never wanted to catch any virus. I am a wimp and don't like being sick.

[Deleted]

Apr 16, 2022 21:42:42 GMT -5 jerseygirl said:

We live in a very red (Republican) county in northern NJ. The culture of anti mask anti vac etc absolutely do not apply here. Masking still fairly common here, vaccination rates very high etc. Othrr very republican (and affluent) NJ areas very similar
Perhaps what’s being described is not just ‘red’ political leanings but also reflects lower population density lower education etc Seems it might be too simplistic to attribute solely to political votes

Well said. I totally agree with this.
I live in the boondocks. The nearest Walmart is an hours drive. I did not wear my mask much. Fifty percent of the time I am the only one in the office. I left my house without a mask because the population density is low - not because I am a Republican!

We were all more concerned when tourist season started. What were those people going to bring with them?

[stillmovingforward]

How have I changed?
I'm pissed for 2 of my children who are doctors/almost doctors in emergency medicine. They have some serious PTSD now and are scraping the bottom of their empathy barrel. I'm very worried about how they will go forward in the next several years.
My 'I don't give a f=^#' meter is much lower. I am more cognizant of doing things for the good of others now. I thought I was before but I hope I've ramped it up a couple of notches. Otherwise, I pretty much still ignore what others think I should be doing. My goal is no harm to others.
And keep myself alive and healthy.
So I wear my mask and ignore the comments from others.

[weltschmerz]

Apr 16, 2022 18:50:56 GMT -5 laterbloomer said:

Apr 16, 2022 18:41:16 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

But that what happens with all new diseases.

Think back on AIDS and SARS. Think about all the flu variations - we never know, each year, just how serious that year’s strain will be.

Sure we could have just told people they were on their own to decide how too avoid catching it and never imposed any kind of restrictions to slow the spread - but I’m glad we tried.

You are ignoring the part where you ridicule anyone that questions your conclusions before you decide you had it wrong.
When I think back on Aids I don't remember the story changing. It spreads through an exchange of bodily fluids, which usually means sex or blood transfusion. Has that been changed? And I barely remember anything about SARS.

Seriously?  You don't remember when AIDS patients were 'untouchables'? People didn't want to touch them or even want to be in the same room with them. We had nurses from the Phillipines who refused to care for them.  It took Princess DI hugging them to show the world that it's safe, that they need human contact, not shunning.

[stillmovingforward]

I remember those days. I was a teenager and my mom worked in the local emergency room. Looking back, it was both scary and sad time. Again, no one was really sure at first how it spread or how contagious it was.

[weltschmerz]

Two years of Covid isolation and illness taught me a lot. I learned that it will take more than 2 heart attacks and isolation to bring me down, that I'm stronger than I thought I was.

On the other hand, I learned that people were a lot more stupid than I thought they were. Covid ensured that I spent a lot more time online and I was horrified.

When Trump was elected, I was willing to give his supporters the benefit of the doubt. 'I'm sure they'll eventually realize what a conman he is.' Nope. They doubled down and showed their abysmal ignorance even more. 'Trump never lied. Trump made the world respect us again.' Unbelievable....that so many people could be so ignorant. Not only that, they're throwing themselves behind people like De Santis, Marjorie Taylor Green, Lauren Boebert, etc.
How could so many people buy into the Q Anon conspiracies? You have to be a special kind of stupid. It boggles the mind. How profoundly dull-witted can you be?
It doesn't bode well for America or the world.
I had hope before.

[nidena]

Apr 17, 2022 13:28:04 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

Apr 16, 2022 18:50:56 GMT -5 laterbloomer said:

You are ignoring the part where you ridicule anyone that questions your conclusions before you decide you had it wrong.
When I think back on Aids I don't remember the story changing. It spreads through an exchange of bodily fluids, which usually means sex or blood transfusion. Has that been changed? And I barely remember anything about SARS.

Seriously?  You don't remember when AIDS patients were 'untouchables'? People didn't want to touch them or even want to be in the same room with them. We had nurses from the Phillipines who refused to care for them.  It took Princess DI hugging them to show the world that it's safe, that they need human contact, not shunning.

If people want a reminder, I'd suggest:

The Ryan White story
Philadelphia (with Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington)
And The Band Played On (with Matt Modine)

[Deleted]

Apr 17, 2022 13:53:38 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

Two years of Covid isolation and illness taught me a lot. I learned that it will take more than 2 heart attacks and isolation to bring me down, that I'm stronger than I thought I was.

On the other hand, I learned that people were a lot more stupid than I thought they were. Covid ensured that I spent a lot more time online and I was horrified.

When Trump was elected, I was willing to give his supporters the benefit of the doubt. 'I'm sure they'll eventually realize what a conman he is.' Nope. They doubled down and showed their abysmal ignorance even more. 'Trump never lied. Trump made the world respect us again.' Unbelievable....that so many people could be so ignorant. Not only that, they're throwing themselves behind people like De Santis, Marjorie Taylor Green, Lauren Boebert, etc.
How could so many people buy into the Q Anon conspiracies? You have to be a special kind of stupid. It boggles the mind. How profoundly dull-witted can you be?
It doesn't bode well for America or the world.
I had hope before.

I learned how uncaring people are by calling those with different beliefs stupid. It makes me sad.

Do you think maybe a few of Trump's supporters realized Trump was a conman? Are you confident not one of them changed their mind? You seem to be speaking for every single person that voted for him.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Apr 16, 2022 18:50:56 GMT -5 laterbloomer said:

Apr 16, 2022 18:41:16 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

But that what happens with all new diseases.

Think back on AIDS and SARS. Think about all the flu variations - we never know, each year, just how serious that year’s strain will be.

Sure we could have just told people they were on their own to decide how too avoid catching it and never imposed any kind of restrictions to slow the spread - but I’m glad we tried.

You are ignoring the part where you ridicule anyone that questions your conclusions before you decide you had it wrong.
When I think back on Aids I don't remember the story changing. It spreads through an exchange of bodily fluids, which usually means sex or blood transfusion. Has that been changed? And I barely remember anything about SARS.

Yeah….it did.  The only difference was that for AIDS it took us 5 years compared to the 6 months it took for Covid.  There was once upon a time where healthcare wouldn’t touch AIDS patients.  Garbage from homes with AIDS patients couldn’t get picked up.  

For a long time, they were not exactly sure WHICH bodily fluids AIDS was transmitted through (back, when it was thought only semen), and as a result it wound up in the blood products, infecting babies through breast milk, etc.  

You are misremembering.  The only difference is the time between changes.  Rather than changes being a few years, they were coming in a few months for Covid.

[weltschmerz]

Apr 17, 2022 14:44:55 GMT -5 @beckaroo said:

Apr 17, 2022 13:53:38 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

Two years of Covid isolation and illness taught me a lot. I learned that it will take more than 2 heart attacks and isolation to bring me down, that I'm stronger than I thought I was.

On the other hand, I learned that people were a lot more stupid than I thought they were. Covid ensured that I spent a lot more time online and I was horrified.

When Trump was elected, I was willing to give his supporters the benefit of the doubt. 'I'm sure they'll eventually realize what a conman he is.' Nope. They doubled down and showed their abysmal ignorance even more. 'Trump never lied. Trump made the world respect us again.' Unbelievable....that so many people could be so ignorant. Not only that, they're throwing themselves behind people like De Santis, Marjorie Taylor Green, Lauren Boebert, etc.
How could so many people buy into the Q Anon conspiracies? You have to be a special kind of stupid. It boggles the mind. How profoundly dull-witted can you be?
It doesn't bode well for America or the world.
I had hope before.

I learned how uncaring people are by calling those with different beliefs stupid. It makes me sad.

Do you think maybe a few of Trump's supporters realized Trump was a conman? Are you confident not one of them changed their mind? You seem to be speaking for every single person that voted for him.

Trump got 10 million more votes in 2020 than he did in 2016. It hurts my heart.

www.refinery29.com/en-ca/2020/11/10177103/who-voted-for-trump-2020-vs-2016

[giramomma]

No one talks about how miraculous it was/is Magic Johnson has lived as long as he has with HIV. He announced he had HIV in 1991.

DH and I talk about it from time to time.

It's amazing how quickly we forget.

[Deleted]

Do any of you feel differently now about your jobs? I do, for a few reasons.

I was pretty upset at the beginning of the pandemic, when we were being told that COVID could be transmitted by touching surfaces, and we didn’t always even have soap in every bathroom or break rooms at work, to wash our hands. That’s a pretty basic necessity, even without COVID. Our unions stepped up and got my employer to agree to measures to try to help us be safer, but it took a while for my employer to get their shit together and provide everything they’d agreed to, and they dropped the ball many times afterward, at least in my building.

Then I felt some type of way that I was going to work every day, putting myself at risk, and feeling like I’m a potential risk to my loved ones, to help keep the nation running and help people who could stay safe at home, have what they needed. I felt/feel like a lot of people didn’t deserve all the risks us essential employees in different industries took, because so many people already looked down on us for not having “important” jobs that require degrees and such, but guess who was out there making things happen so the “important” people could have food, household necessities, medicine, while they stayed safe at home. The same people that people with “real” careers talked shit about and looked down on. And then the healthcare workers were working themselves to death (often literally, because they got COVID and died ) trying to take care of people that refused to take COVID seriously, and got sick. 

Some of my thoughts about working period have changed. Was I really put on this earth to spend most of my time for 3 or 4 decades, the prime years of my life, working my ass off, just so I can have my basic needs as a human met today and when I’m too old to work? What about the people that work their ass off and still struggle with basic needs, like a decent, safe place to live, and nutritious food? Is it ok for them to go without, just because some circumstance in their life kept them from pursuing and getting high paying jobs? Even though they are willing to work full time? I don’t think so. They are no less human than I am, no less human than the people they work for who are making millions and billions of dollars off their labor.

And if they happened to work in a grocery store or some other essential job dealing with the public, not only were they risking their own health and what they might bring home to their loved ones, they had to deal with the fact that “the public” was even more nasty and hateful than before. They caught hell, being mistreated because of things that had nothing to do with them. But they had to go to work anyway, because they needed the money to survive.

Money, money, money. Everything is about money. And power. That’s how this nation is set up. We care more about money and power than we care about people. Our priorities are fucked up. We spend so much time and energy chasing money, that we don’t have much time to just be humans and tend to ourselves, our loved ones and our relationships, or even our most essential asset, the earth we live on. We are destroying her too, instead of appreciating what she provides, and tending to and taking care of her….. because of money.

I know I’m all over the place with this post, but it’s a mishmash of some of the things I’ve thought about a lot over the past 2 years.

[giramomma]

The fact that I want to stop working ASAP is due to the fact that I am getting older, less naive, and have had cancer. It so happens that it coincided with a pandemic.

Bless my 25 year old soul. That's about all I've got. I was so very cute and naive.

As for the rest. I'm just a cog in the machine. I'm not changing the machine. Maybe my 25 year old self thought she could change the machine.

I also work in the public sector. No one is making billions off of me.

So, I do what I can to help those that don't have the basics in a way that I feel compelled to do. It's the best I can do.

I never worried about getting sick with covid, TBH. My son worked his job in a grocery store the whole entire pandemic. I never really considered that he was risking my life, even when I was on chemo.

That said, I can work at home. I understand that I am lucky. But, we always could work out of the office even before the pandemic. That's how I made everything work, especially when I was volunteering more in the kids' school and working more.

I am frustrated now..at the amount of caution I see in my neck of the woods. My chances of dying in a car accident are far greater than contracting covid right now. Same goes for every other adult in my city...but I don't see folks suddenly walking, biking or taking public transportation and everyone leaving their cars at home due to the risk of death. Humans are funny that way...

It isn't just the healthcare workers on the front line that suffered from the effects covid. Most of the breast cancer oncologists left the hospital I was treated at. They went from four to 1. The surgeon that did my lumpectomy started working at the hospital maybe 1-2 years before the pandemic., she was done working as of Nov of 21. She came from Mayo. That's just one cancer treatment center...

[Opti]

Apr 17, 2022 17:05:06 GMT -5 giramomma said:

The fact that I want to stop working ASAP is due to the fact that I am getting older, less naive, and have had cancer. It so happens that it coincided with a pandemic.

Bless my 25 year old soul. That's about all I've got. I was so very cute and naive.

As for the rest. I'm just a cog in the machine. I'm not changing the machine. Maybe my 25 year old self thought she could change the machine.

I also work in the public sector. No one is making billions off of me.

So, I do what I can to help those that don't have the basics in a way that I feel compelled to do. It's the best I can do.

I never worried about getting sick with covid, TBH. My son worked his job in a grocery store the whole entire pandemic. I never really considered that he was risking my life, even when I was on chemo.

That said, I can work at home. I understand that I am lucky. But, we always could work out of the office even before the pandemic. That's how I made everything work, especially when I was volunteering more in the kids' school and working more.

I am frustrated now..at the amount of caution I see in my neck of the woods. My chances of dying in a car accident are far greater than contracting covid right now. Same goes for every other adult in my city...but I don't see folks suddenly walking, biking or taking public transportation and everyone leaving their cars at home due to the risk of death. Humans are funny that way...

It isn't just the healthcare workers on the front line that suffered from the effects covid. Most of the breast cancer oncologists left the hospital I was treated at. They went from four to 1. The surgeon that did my lumpectomy started working at the hospital maybe 1-2 years before the pandemic., she was done working as of Nov of 21. She came from Mayo. That's just one cancer treatment center...

Where did you get the stats for that statement?