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How do you feel and how are you approaching the easing of social distance restrictions? (Patreon)

Published:
2020-05-28 13:27:13
Edited:
2020-05-28 14:48:01
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

Content

Now that social distance restrictions are easing up, are you ready to reintroduce society, friends and family back into your lives? If so, how are you doing it? If not, when do you think you will be comfortable seeing people?

Comments

Russell Quintero

In my line of work, we talk a lot about "Risk Management" and are very clear that "Risk Elimination" is generally impossible. Sustainable actions need to be reasonable actions. You can take extreme actions for a short time, but you will burn out. Society will burn out. A pandemic like this is a marathon, not a sprint. Approaching easing of restrictions is the same. First, accept you cannot eliminate the risks. You never can. You can, however, mitigate them. Instead of shopping every other day, shop weekly with bigger loads. Wear your mask. Don't linger near others, but if both are wearing masks there is no need to get overly anxious just because you briefly passed within six feet as you walked opposite directions down an aisle. All that said, while my family is generally not anxious about the situation and we take all the precautions we can, we also have the privilege of a stable income even under lockdown and we don't intend to go out for more than essential reasons until the second wave has passed...no matter what the governor or county commissioner says.

Brian Coari

I wear a mask and stay 6 feet away from people. I obey all the guidelines of my state (Illinois) and of the individual places I go into, if guidelines are posted. Other than that, it's business as usual. The panic around COVID-19 started in the US when there were 64 cases and no deaths. I don't expect the panic to go away until there are fewer than 64 cases in the country, which might never happen, so I think people will struggle with that. Once a vaccine is released I hope that helps people's concern, but we're many months away from that.

KalliJ

First they told us not to wear masks, then they told us, "yes, wear masks;" they said the virus could live on surfaces and now they're saying "it doesn't appear to be transmitted via surfaces," etc. You'd go mad trying to take precautions for every possible outcome for a disease so new we are learning new things about it every time we turn around. So I just be as sensible as possible. I've never been a social person so quarantine hasn't bothered me much, and I hate wearing a mask because it's hard for me to breathe with it on, but I still wear one in public because why take chances with people's lives? I hate that Florida is easing restrictions because our worthless governor is in the pocket of our even more worthless president. I'm petrified that with Disney and other parks reopening, everybody in the country/world is gonna stampede their stupid selves down here. And once they've been exposed to a small world's assorted contamination, will return home and beyond, spreading a kula-chain of death.

Matt Helton

Honestly, I'm concerned. I see this -- and I'm guilty of this, myself -- like when you're prescribed medication and are told to take it all. You take it and after half the round you feel better, so you stop taking it. That's where we're at, I feel. We've taken half the medicine, enough to "feel better" and decided that we know more than the doctor and have quit taking it. Not only is this not over, the next "wave" will be far more detrimental. If you thought 100k deaths was high, based on how some people are treating this, we'll see millions of deaths nationwide. My work is requiring me to return to work next week, after working-from-home since mid-March. They plan on opening the building, a university Library, a week later. They have not conveyed any policy of guideline enforcement, who and how we can leverage CDC guidelines, and what to do for non-compliance. We are going to pull furniture and computers (I work in IT) but college students, as many can attest, are not the best about adhering to policy or rules. Before, non-compliance would lead to annoyance and trouble with technology. Non-compliance with these things will kill people...

Dormagio

There are no planned changes in my life. I might visit the local card shop to buy something, but I'm still social distancing, still wearing a mask, still hiding from the world. The only socialization I need can be met through discord, so I'm prepared to do this for many more months until I feel the amount of testing had ramped up to an effective level.

Charles Craven

My two-year-old daughter has cancer and is currently going through chemo, putting her squarely in the "at risk" category. This easing of restrictions conceivably makes it more likely that the rest of us would pick it up. So my family will have to continue our own social distancing restrictions, probably until there is a vaccine we can get. In the meantime, we don't have any plans to start reintroducing society back into our lives. It's easy enough for me to keep my distance but I have other kids that want to play with their friends. I don't know how long we can keep up their social distancing. We will continue to stay at home and get everything we can delivered. If we absolutely have to go out we will lather up in sanitizer. I've also been using hospital-grade disinfectant wipes on most everything in the house. And that's just the way it's going to be for us for several more months most likely.

Rachel Mc Veigh

In Ireland - we're currently limited to 5KM for travel and can meet in small family groups but still need to keep to social distancing. My family all live close to each other in Dublin, so they have been able to meet up and chat in their backgardens due to the nice weather. Just before lockdown I moved over 80Km away from the rest of my family, so I wont be able to see them even when the distance goes to 20KM on the 8th of June. I haven't seen any friends or family since before Paddy's Day BUT I still wont be going anywhere cos I'm worried about people taking the piss and our numbers going back up before the lockdown is mostly lifted at the end of July. I'm gonna keep myself away from everyone and just focus on July when I can see my family in person again.

Kes Evenson

My partner is immunocompromised, so we're taking the "wait and see" approach. We are both fortunate enough to be able to work from home. Most of my freinds are also maintaining social distancing as much as possible. We are expecting a second wave.

ARFDog

I will admit, I am starting to loosely engage in more outside activities. I am taking precautions. I got a haircut, and it was really well done. I wore a mask the entire time. My stylist sprayed her chair down, i waited 5 minutes before I could sit on it. She wore a paper gown, mask and face shield and new gloves. She also leaned over and tried not to bump into me, which is difficult since I have very broad shoulders, but she maybe bumped into me 2-3 times, instead of many times in the 30 minutes or so of previous cuts, and each time she bumped into me she apologized (which after the first time I told her she doesn't have to apologize). I paid via Venmo from my phone which was nice. They only had two stylists working at a time, so there were only 6 people in the building. Two stylists, two customers getting haircuts, and two waiting tops. As an aside, the other stylist told her customer that she had a woman scream at her for being forced to wear a mask, something about freedom, and she said "I have the freedom to kick you out of my salon and ban you forever, so get out and don't come back" That lady was a customer of hers for 15 years...all that over a stupid mask. I also went to work out yesterday. Again, super structured. I gained 25 pounds since March. I need my gym, I have no self control when I'm in charge at my own pace. It sucks, but I needed the gym to get back on track. It was great. They had 6x 20'x20' squares with 10x10 squares inside the 20 foot ones. I was required to stay inside the 10x10 one, and the outside square was the buffer, so we had 20 feet between people working out. All the equipment we needed was along the edge of our work out square. We always faced away from other people as well. We sanitized our gear after each exercise, and at the end of class, the main trainer fogged the entire room, and no one could enter for 15 minutes after the fog sanitizer did its work. I know I'm taking risks, but I am doing what I can to minimize things. I don't want to relapse and gain all the weight I lost that was going to be my demise when I hit my 50's knowing how many men in my family have died over the years. (All overweight, in their 50's of sleep apnea related heart attacks in their sleep.)

Zac Derenne

The Sunday of Memorial Day weekend I and 4 friends (a total of 3 separate households) got together for grilling and drinks. We had all been working from home since mid-March and wearing PPE to get groceries, but otherwise sequestering ourselves inside (minus early morning runs on my part where I didn't even see another person, much less run into one). The main exception was one of us being a radiologist, which wears medical grade PPE every day she works and is tested regularly. We felt it was an acceptable risk. Otherwise, little has changed from quarantine. I still get takeout and delivery to try to keep the local businesses I love going but my wallet (and waistline) can only take so much of that. I don't know how I'd feel about going to a concert (something I'd previously enjoyed immensely this time of year) but most I had tickets for were either cancelled or postponed until the fall or next year. I doubt I'd be willing to go out to a restaurant or bar until there's a vaccine, to be completely honest.

Dept of Monster Affairs

I am not changing my behavior so far (been quarantining since mid-March), however, my friends and I are risking a trip we planned back at the beginning of the year. We're an online D&D group and have never met before but after playing for two years we decided it was time. We've been each other's social support during this time and all of us have been quarantining. Therefore at the end of June we are going to risk driving cross-country (IN and MI to PA) to meet up in an AirBnb near the guy who can't drive long distances because of a back injury. We know we are taking risks going cross-country but will be wearing masks when we stop while driving and we are planning on just re-quarantining ourselves in a rented house and playing D&D all week. We also don't know when we are going to get another chance because we're all adults and one is trying to have kids with his wife and anything else could happen between now and next year. I know this is one of those selfish things that people talk about extending the virus but I think we are going to be alright with the precautions we are taking.

Ali Bushell

(For context I'm in the UK). In London the number of cases has dropped significantly and compliance with lockdown has been extremely high, but I've definitely noticed the emotional fatigue from not having contact with others and my work with my therapy clients hasn't been as good virtually. Like others I'm using a risk reduction approach to things and also trying to be cautious about bringing people into personal contact. Clients were first and I now see some of them at home again, but in a set up that increases hygiene and reduces unnecessary touching of surfaces etc. I've seen one set of friends at their place and we really enjoyed the company, and we're getting to know our neighbours too. Where a decision has been made to have contact with people there has been a discussion, establishing the level of risk, and if we're okay we have decided to have full contact rather than sitting in a room 2 metres apart. I'd rather do that for a few people than see everyone I know at a distance.

Tölvölvan

With the relaxation, my world becomes smaller; the fewer places I can go safely. People had a taste of an immune compromised world and tapped out like the b*tches they always were if they aren't part of the financially oppressed, forced to leave shelter for fear of homelessness and poverty.

hothotpot

Living in one of the most affected areas of my state (just outside of Philadelphia, PA), I am having a LOT of anxiety about the easing of restrictions. I do think our governor is approaching it correctly with the specific guidelines he has laid out, but my concern is that people will take an easing of restrictions to mean that there is no danger anymore, and stop taking personal precautions. I have not seen any friends or family since the stay-at-home order went in place, even though I know many people who have. I only leave the house to go food shopping once a week, or to go for walks around my neighborhood. I don't know if this will change for me personally. I had talked with a couple of friends about starting a D&D campaign once things eased up, but I don't know when that will actually happen or if they will feel comfortable getting together. I'm not entirely sure I will feel comfortable, honestly. I worry that this situation has taken more of a toll on my mental health than I fully realize. My company has started talking about the beginning stages of moving people back into offices, and even though this is still a ways off and they are approaching it extremely cautiously, the amount of anxiety I experience any time it is discussed is distressing. I know I will continue to wear a mask in public and I don't know how long it will be before I feel comfortable just.... walking around a store for something to do like I used to, if ever.

Jesso Ossej

I'm in Texas. We re-opened May 1, and the company I work for insisted that we needed to be back in the office. I'm pretty sure I've got the virus now. I got my nose swabbed Tuesday and am waiting for results. Thankfully, it does seem to be one of the "mild" cases, so hopefully it will just be another week or two of this crap and then I'm immune? The timing sucks, because I finally got up the courage to book an appointment with a surgeon for a consultation about getting my thyroid out (it's a giant mutant! whee!) and now I'll have to reschedule and go through that whole set of emotions again. But at the moment, I'm very "whatever" about everything. Probably because I'm tired.

Merlin -they- Stardust

I don't care what the rest of the US does. I'm not going to any gathering places (restaurants, bars, etc) for a few months. The only place I'm willing to go is the grocery store. I'll hang out with a very small circle of people (very close friends and my partner) but I'm not risking anything beyond that. If we had a competent administration with health insurance for all and enough tests for everyone, I would consider risking going to places with people. But we don't. Our government sucks. Our health system sucks. Our testing sucks. Over a hundred thousand people are dead (most of them from marginalized communities and backgrounds) and it's only going to get worse. If I had a way that also didn't appear hypocritical, I would safely protest the ease of social distancing. If y'all have any suggestions on how to do that, that would be great.

Izit Spooky

One of my housemates is immuno compromised so we're actually having to increase how careful we're being (and we were already being very careful). I am looking forward to being able to go see my family at some point who live 200 miles or so away, but I need to find a way to do it without bringing the risk back to the house (which I know will be very hard). It's also only a couple of weeks before the shop I work in is going to be re-opening so I need to figure out how to do that safely. This is all pretty depressing but it is making me look forward to socialising in the future and thats unusual for me... So I've got that I guess?

Dr. DNA, PhD

My state opened May 1. So far, things have been going OK, especially in my county. My friends (thankfully) don't really have public facing jobs, so I felt safe having them help me move last weekend. As far as the rest of my town, I absolutely don't feel safe doing much other than work and the necessary trip to walmart or other stores I need to go to. I especially feel unsafe as it's about 20% mask wearers to 80% without, and I'm being generous to the mask wearers with that number. Most employees I see wear masks (especially at walmart), but a fair number don't. My work has been quite accommodating (we're an academic microbiology lab, so plenty of alcohol for spraying surfaces and people who understand microbes), so that's been good. Though the state is open, we're pretty much keeping home unless we have an experiment to set up/perform, and we're spending the mean time writing our stuff up. Seems to be a good system and there's only ever 4 of us in the lab at maximum (usually little overlap)

Robert Launder

I was doing pretty well at staying home, but on Monday decided to go on a hike with my wife. This was a huge mistake. There were a ton of people, no one aside from me and my wife were keeping any sort of safe distance, and we only saw a few other people wearing masks. Basically, I jumped the gun on getting back out and am going to be staying home for the foreseeable future.

Keil Hubert

To be blunt, it's too soon to act like the pandemic is over ... and far too many people are out and about as if the coronavirus had just unconditionally surrendered. Relaxing defensive measures right now increases everyone's risk of exposure, infection, sickness, and death. There is no barbecue, no ballgame, no bar crawl worth my life. I'd be happy to let others choose for themselves whether to accept the risk and pay the price if they're wrong ... but this isn't an individual rick acceptance scenario. One risk taker exposes everyone else to the consequences of their actions without their awareness or consent. The only prudent course of action is to remain disciplined and stick with your protective measures until we have a vaccine, a cure, and the capacity to deliver both in sufficient quantity.

Ryan Berry

1918 called - it wants it's pandemic response back.

Warmbry

I'd been social distancing since 2008, so I'm totally ok with the fact that the rest of the world has finally joined the party.

Brennan Artzt

I work as a delivery driver for a coffee distributor in Austin. as restrictions are starting to be lifted people are going to these restaurants leading the spaces that I delivered to being poorly social distanced. This is cause me to push back any plans of seeing my family who lives in town IRL and leading to The hypochondriac part of my anxiety being more active.

Rachel Ricketts

I'm in NYC and I'm furloughed. We're still waiting for Phase 1 reopen in NYC. I'm a project manager in construction so I'm of two minds. One: I'm glad my industry will be one of the first to resume because the longer this goes on, the more I worry about being let go. Two: Assuming I am eventually brought back, I'm absolutely terrified about how to commute into work. My roommates and I all decided to end our lease August 1st, and I'm moving in with a friend on Manhattan, so hopefully I can just ride my bike to work. But also... riding a bike in NYC is almost as terrifying as the idea of riding the subway. It's a shit sandwich at a shit buffet over here.

Lucy Vin

I have a chronic lung issue, so re-opening isn't going to mean a whole lot for me, at least not for awhile. I'm working from home for the foreseeable future. My company still hasn't made any decisions on whether-or-not they'd like to allow employees to work remotely permanently after all this ends, but even if they do I don't think I'd take that option. I much prefer being able to go into the office and be around people. So not having that on the table for the rest of the year is slightly irritating. Aside from that though, I'm holding it together. I bought an electric skateboard so I can avoid the train for short commutes for awhile. For the longer stuff, well, I was already planning to do bike school *before* quarantine hit, so that's my plan when classes are available again and make sense.

Angry Potat

I work as a mobile mapping driver (think Google Maps/TomTom), and am currently in the Denver/Colorado Springs area. And honestly, it feels like half the population have decided the virus just up and retired. No masks, no gloves, no social distancing. It's crazy to see people already squeezing together and breathing down each other's necks.

John Hall

My wife and I are still WFH. Her until at least the end of the year, while I have no end date yet. Last weekend was the FIRST TIME we left our home together since February. I, very reluctantly, attended a family gathering with my in-laws over the holiday weekend. I knew that several of them were having a very hard time during the stay-at-home order and I also knew that they each violated the order repeatedly. Including going to get their hair done at the home of a stylist every week (despite each being single, living alone, and not dating). After almost 2 hours of me sitting outside downwind of one of them, not wearing a mask, sitting in front of a fan, and occasionally coughing, my spouse and I called it quits and went home. I'm being ultra-paranoid now on ensuring we're both staying home until we know we're out of the risk period.

Carrie

I don't think I will be comfortable with any kind of "normal" socialization for a very very long time ... if we had a handle on this virus, with a vaccine or treatments, I would feel better about opening up my state. I don't think I will go anywhere or see anyone without masks/6ft for months. I have put off routine medical appointments because no one seems to know if it's safe and the decision is just based on how you feel that day. My kid is supposed to start high school in the fall and I am TERRIFIED of sending her to that overcrowded, giant petri dish of germs. It will take a lot more than "I'm tired of this so let's reopen" to make me feel safe.

Alyx Green

With everything opening up, and the numbers coming down, I don’t have to make my Grindr hookups wear masks anymore. Might keep that tough; who doesn’t like a little mystery?

gijoes

When I go out I wear a mask but 95%+ people don't. And as I understand it, wearing a mask is for other people's welfare, not one's own. So in terms of personal protection, it doesn't matter whether I wear a mask. I am healthy and have always had a robust immune system, so I am certainly not in a high-risk group. But there are plenty of people out there who are. I know a cop and asked him what he thought of the easing of suggested safety measures. He said that he thinks that people are fed up and just want to get back to normal, so the easing is the right thing to do. This is a cop who is supposed to be protecting public welfare. If he's cavalier, willfully ignorant and/or oblivious, how can we expect everyone else to know what to do? State and local government has appeared to be prudent and careful to provide the best possible information. The easing of guidelines everywhere to me appears to be due to public pressure, most likely due to the politicization of this ultimately by the idiot clown in the White House. Where he has shown no leadership in keeping Americans safe, he is now effectively leading in the other direction. And the Trumpolos everywhere are eating it up.

Sarah Chavis

I don't expect much of my behavior will change any time soon. I go out once a week for supplies (Farmer's market and take out from local restaurants) and once a week for medical needs (weekly injections and prescriptions when needed). If the dog parks open up, my mom and I might start up our weekly get-togethers again, if only for the exercise, but even then we'll keep our distance and wear masks. I'm really frustrated by the push to relax things so quickly. It's just going to make this whole thing go on longer and force high-risk folks like me to keep ourselves isolated while everyone else "moves on". Before everything went sideways, I was getting regular massage for pain management. I'm now 4 months without and having to fall back on pain meds instead, so I would *love* for this to "be over", but it demonstrably is not, and won't be for a while yet.

Xuxa

Most people where I live never took this seriously to begin with and dealing with the mask shaming is frustrating. Apparently its now a way to identify the 'us and them' locally and I feel forever marked in local community as a crazy. I am a caregiver and it just breaks my heart because I see one world but I understand those not seeing this in any real way and all the misinformation. I thought we would be bonded together as a country by this pandamic, but watching the conflict and animosity as everyone tries to rush to normal and all the different ways the working class have been set up to be a scapegoat in the next wave instead of those in power is terrifying. I am using time of rules lifting to organize mutual aid and prepare for the next lockdown.

Emory

I'm really worried that there's going to be a new wave of cases. I'm also worried that we'll lose a lot of the mechanisms that help people maintain their isolation. I have several chronic conditions and don't plan to stop isolating until there's a treatment/vaccine, but I'm afraid that it's going to be a lot harder to maintain it.

Al Nachman

I'm fortunate that I have a job where I can easily work from home, and a company that (so far) has been willing to let IT people continue to WFH. I, personally, plan to continue treating the situation like it's a full pandemic and stay home as often as possible. Like others, I'm expecting spikes in cases. Where I live, most people have been treating everything as "normal" for at least a month now, anyway.

Dax Strife

I feel safe seeing my family again, because I know they've done everything possible to stay safe. Co-workers? Not so much. I'm not fond of working from home these last couple of months, but it's preferable to being in a big building full of people. I think I'd be fine with it in a month or two more, so we can see if there's a 2nd wave of infections/deaths or not.

Joshua Buckley

I feel filled with anxiety and dread. My boss recently got a PPP loan and while as a small restaurant we're still just doing takeout, there are about 15 of us crammed in close quarters working in conditions impossible to social distance. This coupled with the fact that my town has the highest amount of cases in Washington state has me extremely paranoid. I find myself quick to anger and frustration these days. Daily I become more dispassionate about cooking, which has been the driving motivation in my life so far. I'm constantly scared that I'll get it and either become an abstract number or cause that for someone else because I'll be working for the asymptomatic gestation period. I also feel guilt about even expressing this as my restaurant is one of the lucky ones, daily we hear about others in the area shuttering permanently. Sorry, that was a bummer. Thank you for being fantastic content creators. I genuinely look forward to hearing you two (and Robert too) every week.

Aleks Pluth

it scares me a lot! i miss my grandma, we used to hang out a couple times a week before this and i don’t want her to be in any harms way whatsoever, so it scares me to think that this could be an extreme risk to her health. but my depression is also really taking hold right now and it would be nice to see my friends if they’ve been careful, which is know isn’t great but i just need a hug so bad right now. i don’t know when i’d be ready to be out in society again, it all just makes me so anxious

Brandon Kinney

I am in Washington and I want to but won't be comfortable even going to friends houses for a while. I miss seeing people I love but I would rather they be alive and I see them on discord/zoom. I don't trust any of the sources that would say america is safe to go outside in. Hope it isnt forever, maybe one day we can be like New Zealand.

Delaney Jade

I also answered on twitter, sorry to repeat myself. I live in AZ, cases are still increasing, and the people I am in closest proximity to/contact with are my neighbors (and friends, one with benefits) who live in a house less than 50 ft away. They weren't as cautious as I would have liked to begin with, but now that restrictions are easing it seems as though they have different people over every day. I am going to reduce contact with them. I am going to open up careful contact with a few people who take this more seriously (my brother, a couple friends) so that I don't lose my mind alone in my house with just my cat. There will be masks and distancing. My mom is lucky among nurses to be a) working in travel hospice and not a hospital, and b) provided with appropriate PPE for when she does have to enter a hospital, but she is still high risk for carrying it. Most of the rest of my family lives with my vulnerable grandparents. We have done some distancing with masks on my grandparents' patio, but we live in the desert and it's getting hot for that. I am getting very frustrated with fellow Arizonans who are not taking any precautions. The bars are opening :( I really want to finish my foot tattoo and parlors are also reopening but I would feel so guilty and anxious, I just don't understand how people can be so cavalier!

Julie Scott

I live in Orange County California and I don't understand why we are opening up. I see everything trending upward, no curve at all, it makes no sense. I am more terrified now that I am seeing people running around, no mask, no distancing. Restaurants and stores pretending an enclosed space with central AC doesn't make distancing pointless. Now on top of trying to keep my family safe I have to deal with this social pressure of businesses and friends and family who think I am being paranoid or overreacting. And they feel justified in telling me that because "the government would let businesses open if it wasn't safe". I'm extremely stressed out about it. Every business emailing and posting about how they are excited to see me makes me more angry. I had to just start unfollowing and unsubscribing. I was happy to support those small businesses when they were taking precautions but pardin me if I don't trust you are "constantly santizing" when our local stores are still short on cleaning supplies and will only let me buy one bottle of cleaner. Where are they getting these supplies? Did they just have a secret stash they are hiding from the rest of us? I have so many unanswered questions.

Thalandor46

I simply can't imagine a socially open world without a widely available vaccine, or at the very least reliable treatment. That certainly isn't the case now, and I'm not betting on that happening any time in the near future. So I personally am continuing to social distance as best as I can manage. But what really gets to me the most is the subconscious feeling of "I hope they die" directed towards everyone who is not taking this seriously. I know that is such a problematic way of thinking, but I feel so desperate for that "Told you so" data point that the thought just keeps lingering. It's quite the internal conflict, and I'm not really sure what to do with it.

Jordan Gaither

We're not. Every place that has opened up prematurely has suffered a catastrophic rise in new cases. My family and I will be staying put until SCIENTISTS say it's safe, not ghoulish politicians or their paid-for "expert counsel".

Rebecca Schulz

I'm looking forward to see my small group of friends again in person. There are only five of us and we are all diligent about masks and hand washing. We've been trying remote D&D, but we've had tech issues and had to stop playing. We will be wearing masks the entire time and not sharing food or drinks. I'll also be getting together with my co-worker from another location starting tomorrow. I've really missed socializing with him without the company monitoring us. We'll see how all this goes. If quarantine goes back into place or one of us is exposed we will put it on pause again. I do not plan on seeing family any time soon or going to any large gatherings. I cancelled my AMC membership since I don't plan on going to the movies at all this year. I will continue to limit non-essential shopping and do carry-out/delivery only for the foreseeable future.

Scott

Here in Australia we've missed the worst of it (so far) but we've got our share of idiots, crowding back into small spaces, ignoring social distancing. The worst thing is the number of boomers who seem to think they are invulnerable. So we are doubling down on the whole hermit thing, which honestly is the way we tend to live anyway.

_JO3Y

I live in ND, we never really had a lockdown, they did have restaurants and personal care places closed but I think fats about as extreme as we got. The place I work (retail that would call itself essential even though it isn’t) never closed. In fact, we are busier than normal since a competing location did close. I actually took about a month off unpaid to stay home (early April to early May) because I live with grandparents, one of which has preexisting lung problems. I didn’t want to risk getting them sick. But, as one would expect of those who watch nothing but Fox, they have not taken any precautions whatsoever. If anything, they’ve been spending more time shopping and eating out now than before. And in general, that’s what I’ve seen from most people who come into my store too. Most of the people here are doing basically nothing different. They’ll just go about their business as if nothing is happening, and bitch about masks and “this is ‘Murica!” about everything. Some actually do wear masks here, but it’s uncommon, and they’re likely to just take it off as soon as they come into the store and start talking to you, for some reason [stupidity, the reason is stupidity]. So since my family doesn’t really give a shit about their own safety and can’t be convinced to do anything differently, I just went back to work. Might as well get paid during all this. They’re sure to get it if we have a major break out here either way. It’s frustrating, but they’re going to keep working, shopping, and eating out regardless of what I do. I try to social distance as best I can at work, and disinfect everything I or our customers touch, but that can only do so much. I haven’t left the house for anything but work, food, and gas for the past couple months. But that’s mostly how I live my life anyway. There were some more major things I was hoping to do this year, travel overseas, move out of this city, possibly look at going back to school, but those all seem difficult or impossible now.

Alexander Magnus

I'm from Wisconsin. People around me wear masks and that's about it. Businesses in my local community have been open for weeks now.

Rogue

Normally I have serious depression and anxiety, but everyone else has come up to my baseline, so I'm weirdly ok. Everyone is freaking out, this is where I live. As for work, I'm a boiler operator who works night shift, so my job hasn't changed much. I stopped riding the bus and train to work, got a used car with a corona hardship withdrawal, using that to get to work now. I'm high risk, pneumonia scars, yearly bronchitis, high blood pressure, but gotta work. When I get it, I'm probably gonna die. Trying to distract myself from that by trying to help people organize with the Houston Tenants Union, paying my IWW dues, etc. Got a group on FB, Survival Skills for Socialists which is exactly that, homesteading, street medic, weapons, just a knowledge base, people sharing gardening tips and guillotine jokes. Kinda trying to half ass organize a commune if I live long enough. Also buying guns and the stuff to start making IFAKs. Listening to Cody, Katy, and Robert, loading magazines and first aid kits, lol.

T-bug

I'm from London and the absolute clown show in charge has always been a bit hard to read. This week the really took the lid off #cumgate. Apart from a few idiots I've really felt an atmosphere of we're all in this together. They've thoroughly undermined that now, and for so little. Having said that I realise now retrospectively I've been breaching by meeting my parents in the park occasionally (2 meters apart of course). So none of us is perfect I think I'm going to carry on as strictly and trying to support my parents and community. I don't know what I'm going to do the first time my company wants to send me onsite, but I don't think it will be soon. Wait and see and hope

Carrie Rogers

I'm in Minnesota. Our state is slowly opening up with retail restrictions on masks and social distancing. State fair and other "more than 20 people" events have been canceled for the rest of the year, which is good. I do NOT leave the house without a mask and make sure to wash my hands and face upon return. (Not everyone is doing that.) I am lucky enough to work from home, so I still rarely leave anyway. My family has started a buddy system. If we only meet in person with each other, we can contact trace ourselves; thus reinstating weekly family dinner (yard bbq thanks to the weather).

Emily Kugler

This question and the recent podcast episode was really useful for me. Some friends have been pushing for small things, and after a while, it seems like such a little thing. But I am not comfortable with how things are opening up, and I am constantly seeing people wear masks incorrectly (it goes on your mouth and nose, and you don't take it off just because you are close to someone you want to speak to). Thank you for this