Very aggravated I have to frame COVID as a "personal problem" to others.

It's easy to forget how massive of a divide there is between people who pay attention, and those that are going about their normal lives and punishing their bodies.

I've always been someone who pays attention to everything, becomes very interested in subjects, and finds the time to do at least a little bit of research on the important things that impact our world, from climate change, to war, to politics, to of course, the worst global ongoing disease in a hundred years.

But as we've all seen, COVID has been the intellectual cliff that everyone has decided to throw themselves over, abandoning reason and information for ignorance and blind trust. Most people are completely unaware of anything that affects their daily lives, from politics, to law, to the very air they breathe, so I guess why would COVID be any different? From that angle it makes perfect sense everybody willfully forgot about COVID as soon as the government snapped their fingers.

After 4 years, I've learned that people just do not want to hear about COVID, even during this 2nd largest wave yet.

Activism about the war in Palestine or Ukraine is encouraged. Calling out Joe Biden for supporting genocide (only war though) is fantastic. Decry the public health system for failing people every day in America. AWESOME. But even hint that COVID should still be avoided, or that leadership is failing people by keeping it hushed: THAT'S A CONSPIRACY AND YOU ARE CRAZY FOR EVEN BRINGING IT UP!

So, after 4 years of alienating people with scientific information (lol), I've shifted more into self-preservation mode. And when things come up, like the inevitable "Hey long time no talk! Want to go get dinner?", my response of "Sorry, I'm still taking COVID precautions" falls on completely deaf ears. Mostly there is no response.

So, I've found myself using more and more language that makes it about me. "Oh I'm dealing with health stuff, so I can't right now" or "I have to avoid COVID for awhile until X issue of mine is better" and so-on.

This gets a much better response from people, but the thing is, IT FRICKING SUCKS AND IS BASICALLY A LIE. We're inside a burning building, and I'm having to tell people "Oh I'm just temperature sensitive, don't mind me" while I'm trying to use the fire extinguisher. Otherwise I get instantly written off as the "crazy" person.

The other day I had a conversation with an old friend online, and after some catching up they asked if I wanted to meet up. I gave them the "It's not COVID, it's me" line, and they actually responded "Yeah COVID looks really bad right now, let's meet up when it's gone down a bit!"

Surprised at their response I felt empowered and added that with my health problems I've followed COVID closely, and it's not great to get it repeatedly. That we need more honesty from leaders, better prevention, and treatments.

Well that was a quick way to end that conversation. I might as well have responded with "I am a gorilla and I only wear red tarp to the magic kingdom."

Oops, my bad for trying to give out some basic scientific information during a massive global health crisis.

I talked to my partner about it - who has thankfully hunkered down with me this whole time, though very openly not happy about it - and they told me flat out "Yeah well, you're not everybody's parent. It's not up to you to tell people what to do."

sigh

Then they said "Just keep telling people you're being safe from COVID, you're taking care of health issues, keep it about you. Don't start giving them data, don't tell them how unsafe it is, it's not your place."

Well firstly, I don't tell anybody what to do. I'm not judging anyone. I want people to know so that they stay safe, so they can apply social pressure to leadership to do better, and so this bullshit can end so we can have our lives back. I don't want my friends to destroy their immune systems and die.

We started to get into a little bit of an argument about activism of any kind. I said "Should this be the same method for climate change, politics, war?" but the conversation kind of diffused because neither of us wanted to be combative.

I left it off with "I just want people to know, that's all, they can do whatever they want."

But COVID is not a personal issue. COVID isn't about me being weak or scared. It's a global health issue. And the only reason it isn't for everyone is because they are in the dark. So it feels extremely shitty to have to keep framing it as "oh it's not COVID, it's ME" which is bullshit. Yes I have a vested interest in everyone pushing to end this bullshit because it affects ME personally, too, and I want my life back! But collective action is needed to keep everyone safe!

That's another step in the minimization process, and is how things get suppressed.

But it's pretty clear that not only can I not shout from the rooftops, I can't even engage in a basic conversation about it. The building is on fire, but I have to keep quiet and let my friends kill themselves while I watch in silence.

Just needed to vent.

_{https://old.reddit.com/r/ZeroCovidCommunity/comments/195ibzf/very_aggravated_i_have_to_frame_covid_as_a}