a cool thing about being high risk in the pandemic is that people will tell you reassuringly that they mask in public all the time and then tell you casually about going out to eat in restaurants and then act shocked when you ask them to mask around you as if restaurants were not public spaces

"But we are really careful" and half an hour later they send you a picture of them having a party with at least 20 people in a small space. In 2021.

The "right amount" of caution is whatever cautionary measures feel good at the time. There are no broader criteria applied to decision-making. It's all about feelings. People will say they're not, "unmasked around strangers" like knowing someone personally means you can't catch COVID from them.

I'm still only going to restaurants with outdoor seating and will mask around my friends unless they are inviting me to extended indoor time with just them and probably eating, in which case it's just performative. But those invites have been maybe half a dozen in the last 3 years. w/ testing first

This is why I don’t trust people. Their conclusions about “careful” don’t line up w/ mine. Only a few ppl I know are detailed & transparent abt their choices.

Can we get a break? I’m so tired of being surrounded by a lack of reality.