I sometimes wear a mask and sometimes don’t. I wear it at work because there are so many people from everywhere here. I think just it’s your call Arfie! Caution or caution to the wind! :) x

is it good news that i seem to have arrived at a functional social protocol for dealing with masked people? sorta. . . maybe. . . i have to go in for a checkup on my current dental trauma this morning and the dentist is a devout maskite. i still don't know what this dude looks like, but he doesn't seem offended when i close my eyes and turn my head so that i can hear him better in the absence of lip reading.

i have the distinct impression that masks have become a fashion statement. it's not the weirdest fashion statement in the history of the cat walk. i still can't imagine wearing a chastity belt.

but the trauma of the global shutdown is bigger than the great mask debate, it has been over two years of ? ? ? give me a name for ^it^, please.

Yes it's been over 2 years. A lot of people here sometimes wear masks, sometimes not. I wear mine only in places where it is required. I'm vaccinnated, boosted 2x and feel enough is enough, I can't take it anymore, and I am out there. It was either getting sick, even with being vaccinated, or losing my sanity. Yes I agree, do what you feel is best. The past 3 years have been awful and I am fed up with it.

i live on a farm, so the quarter mile to the end of the driveway was enough social distance to save me from the mask requirements.

i was about ready to go shopping for weapons over the vaccine mandates. keep your laws off my body! ! !

"fed up" is an understatement.

still. . . i'm praying to come out the other side with a society that my 3 young orphans can grow on. just praying. . . 2 years is a substantial percentage of their lives. can they be kids now?

Luv u Arfie :) I've been over it from day 1!!! I take it seriously and have lost a FEW dear ones to the virus. I also lost my 13 year career at the beginning of the shut down. In April 2020 I became an "essential worker" with 100s of in face encounters on a daily basis. I finally took the vaccine in late late 2021 because I was tired of hearing about it at work. I'm one of those people "never had the flu shot and never had the flu."
Anyway, my mom is still wearing the mask because of her illnesses. But I'm taking the NO MASK challenge most days - although I still try to keep the 6 feet rule

love you back, mel. i am envious that you were **over it** so quickly. i'm still trying to figure out which ^it^ i need to get over.

the dear ones i lost during all this didn't die of covid, so they didn't count. . . that kinda hurts extra.

the family members i did lose to covid were all medical marvels who had dedicated their plethora of second chances on making everyone around them miserable. i feel more honest celebrating the end of suffering than mourning the loss of life.

my aversion to touch has been pretty resistant to psychotherapy. 6 feet never has been enough social distance for me unless it is 6 feet under. i only read about that piece of the corona mandates. the practice has long been second nature to me. maybe even first nature. i wasn't even a cuddly kid.

To be truthful, i was giving virtual hugs in-person wayyyy before the pandemic. I'm not a touchy person either.

"Celebrating the end of suffering [rather] than mourning the loss of life". My heart really needed to hear that...thank you

the virtual hugs still haven't turned me on. ((((((((((((you're kidding, right?)))))))))). IRL (in real life) my own modus operandi for the hug-a-thons is to discretely get my proper social distance on without drawing attention to my actions. typically, the social cues which warn me of a pending hug-a-thon are distinct enough that i am typically long gone before the frenzy even starts. not too many people ever notice. the precious few who do notice invariably become even more precious in the process of investigating.

yea, the more advanced and heavy handed medical science grows, the more i find myself celebrating the end of suffering when i receive yet another funeral invite. at 67, i am getting more of those every year. corona isolated me with the deaths my eldest son and his wife (both 35) while i was being whelmed with the cultural sympathy for the family members whose suffering ended with covid. it may take a while to untangle that psycho snot knot. i haven't even figured out which half is crazier. give me a name for ^it^, please. by whatever name, it be mind fuckus maximus.