Agreed and it breaks my heart. Lost relationships with family members due to hardcore hardcore political stances, going through a divorce bc we decided to move from DC during Covid and then husband changed his mind and moved back. Those are the two b if ones but my life is 100% different than it was March 2020 and sometimes I wish I could wake up back then and have a do over.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work in education and people who came of age and were still in K-12 or college during COVID are developmentally stunted. They don't seem to have coping or problem solving skills and ignore deadlines and have trouble taking initiative.

We’re moving school districts next summer and are holding our daughter back - she’s young for her class and has diagnosed learning disabilities, and covid was a huge challenge to her learning.

I don’t know why it’s so difficult for people to acknowledge the intense trauma we all experienced. Just because some of us coped better or were less materially affected does not invalidate other people’s experiences. I guess that’s another fun legacy of covid: a notable decrease in empathy and compassion. Ironically.

But so much if it was self inflicted. That doesn’t make everyone a victim. People went way overboard and now have to suffer the consequences.

NP. You highlight what has caused is shift in my worldview from which I am having trouble recovering. You think that people went "overboard" by following public health advice, taking COVID seriously as a health risk, and trying to do their part to avoid spreading it when certain members of the community were at greater risk. Your "overboard" was my trying to be a decent human being. The new narrative is that any fallout from restricted activities or isolation was self-inflicted and, therefore, not worth acknowledging or addressing.

I'll say that my view of "experts" in various realms has become increasingly distrustful. This is particularly true with those in public health and education, where experts offered assurances that were solely focused on maintaining desired outcomes without honest acknowledgment or discussion of potential long-term consequences.

Meh. You lose me when you portray people who didn't behave the way you did as bad human beings. The 20/20 hindsight lens on how long restrictions stayed in place is not a good look. I don't think the data supports those decisions. And yes, some people used more common sense and saw it at the time and spoke up and behaved differently and they were labeled as lacking empathy, unkind, not good people.

If I've learned anything it's trust my own instincts, trust my ability to get information and assess it on my own, do not follow the party line whatever the party is. Independent thinking and judgment is your friend and yes, you will be punished for it by some no matter what "side" you are on.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work in education and people who came of age and were still in K-12 or college during COVID are developmentally stunted. They don't seem to have coping or problem solving skills and ignore deadlines and have trouble taking initiative.

We’re moving school districts next summer and are holding our daughter back - she’s young for her class and has diagnosed learning disabilities, and covid was a huge challenge to her learning.

I don’t know why it’s so difficult for people to acknowledge the intense trauma we all experienced. Just because some of us coped better or were less materially affected does not invalidate other people’s experiences. I guess that’s another fun legacy of covid: a notable decrease in empathy and compassion. Ironically.

But so much if it was self inflicted. That doesn’t make everyone a victim. People went way overboard and now have to suffer the consequences.

NP. You highlight what has caused is shift in my worldview from which I am having trouble recovering. You think that people went "overboard" by following public health advice, taking COVID seriously as a health risk, and trying to do their part to avoid spreading it when certain members of the community were at greater risk. Your "overboard" was my trying to be a decent human being. The new narrative is that any fallout from restricted activities or isolation was self-inflicted and, therefore, not worth acknowledging or addressing.

I'll say that my view of "experts" in various realms has become increasingly distrustful. This is particularly true with those in public health and education, where experts offered assurances that were solely focused on maintaining desired outcomes without honest acknowledgment or discussion of potential long-term consequences.

At some point common sense should have been restored. Some of the measures and actions were ridiculous and should have been obvious. Children never needed to be banned from playgrounds, masks weren’t needed on solo runs in suburban neighborhoods. I lived in a place where police were called on kids playing at a park. So we moved. A whole lot of this never made much sense and shockingly a lot of people blindly followed along and gleefully shamed their neighbors who weren’t in lock step. It’s hard to muster sympathy now.

So you are happy that people are having trouble rebuilding their lives because they took COVID seriously.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People forget how many people died or suffered long term health issues prior to the vaccine. I know some of those people and they weren’t all old or overweight. I think once the vaccine was widely available there should have been a greater push to get life back to normal.

I live in Illinois and the governor issued a directive about "reopening" in May 2020 that said we couldn't go back to normal (in person school and events) until a vaccine was available. A friend asked me how long that would take and I was dismayed and said at least two years. Then miraculously it was available within months and we STILL didn't go back to normal. The teacher's union rep at our school board meeting sniffed that the teachers wouldn't feel safe teaching in person until every CHILD was also vaccinated. And down the street the Catholic school had full in-person school with masks and when asked why they could do it, they said "they're smaller" as if that means anything. The Catholic school is not much smaller, it has 350 students!
Societal trust has been wiped out here. My sister lives in Japan and in spring 2020 the government was giving them reasonable advice about keeping safe from Covid: lose excess weight, take vitamins, keep gatherings outdoors in the fresh air and sunshine. Meanwhile here, the government was closing beaches, playgrounds and parks and I got admonished for walking down the sidewalk unmasked in my leafy, uncrowded suburb. I work at a hospital and we were made to pose for a picture "We come to work, do your part by staying home" when telling people to get exercise would have helped them more than sitting in the house.

These are good points. As a COVID-cautious parent who now regrets many of my pandemic decisions, I think that more positive messages about outdoor activities would have put me on a much better course. Instead, we were busy staying in, unable to access parks, and a large vocal contingent was shaming people who went to their socially distanced community pools, allowed their kids to play sports, or even hiked without masks. From about April 2020 on, everything about COVID was so divisive it was difficult to find a way to live life positively.

Anonymous wrote:People forget how many people died or suffered long term health issues prior to the vaccine. I know some of those people and they weren’t all old or overweight. I think once the vaccine was widely available there should have been a greater push to get life back to normal.

I live in Illinois and the governor issued a directive about "reopening" in May 2020 that said we couldn't go back to normal (in person school and events) until a vaccine was available. A friend asked me how long that would take and I was dismayed and said at least two years. Then miraculously it was available within months and we STILL didn't go back to normal. The teacher's union rep at our school board meeting sniffed that the teachers wouldn't feel safe teaching in person until every CHILD was also vaccinated. And down the street the Catholic school had full in-person school with masks and when asked why they could do it, they said "they're smaller" as if that means anything. The Catholic school is not much smaller, it has 350 students!
Societal trust has been wiped out here. My sister lives in Japan and in spring 2020 the government was giving them reasonable advice about keeping safe from Covid: lose excess weight, take vitamins, keep gatherings outdoors in the fresh air and sunshine. Meanwhile here, the government was closing beaches, playgrounds and parks and I got admonished for walking down the sidewalk unmasked in my leafy, uncrowded suburb. I work at a hospital and we were made to pose for a picture "We come to work, do your part by staying home" when telling people to get exercise would have helped them more than sitting in the house.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work in education and people who came of age and were still in K-12 or college during COVID are developmentally stunted. They don't seem to have coping or problem solving skills and ignore deadlines and have trouble taking initiative.

We’re moving school districts next summer and are holding our daughter back - she’s young for her class and has diagnosed learning disabilities, and covid was a huge challenge to her learning.

I don’t know why it’s so difficult for people to acknowledge the intense trauma we all experienced. Just because some of us coped better or were less materially affected does not invalidate other people’s experiences. I guess that’s another fun legacy of covid: a notable decrease in empathy and compassion. Ironically.

But so much if it was self inflicted. That doesn’t make everyone a victim. People went way overboard and now have to suffer the consequences.

NP. You highlight what has caused is shift in my worldview from which I am having trouble recovering. You think that people went "overboard" by following public health advice, taking COVID seriously as a health risk, and trying to do their part to avoid spreading it when certain members of the community were at greater risk. Your "overboard" was my trying to be a decent human being. The new narrative is that any fallout from restricted activities or isolation was self-inflicted and, therefore, not worth acknowledging or addressing.

I'll say that my view of "experts" in various realms has become increasingly distrustful. This is particularly true with those in public health and education, where experts offered assurances that were solely focused on maintaining desired outcomes without honest acknowledgment or discussion of potential long-term consequences.

At some point common sense should have been restored. Some of the measures and actions were ridiculous and should have been obvious. Children never needed to be banned from playgrounds, masks weren’t needed on solo runs in suburban neighborhoods. I lived in a place where police were called on kids playing at a park. So we moved. A whole lot of this never made much sense and shockingly a lot of people blindly followed along and gleefully shamed their neighbors who weren’t in lock step. It’s hard to muster sympathy now.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work in education and people who came of age and were still in K-12 or college during COVID are developmentally stunted. They don't seem to have coping or problem solving skills and ignore deadlines and have trouble taking initiative.

We’re moving school districts next summer and are holding our daughter back - she’s young for her class and has diagnosed learning disabilities, and covid was a huge challenge to her learning.

I don’t know why it’s so difficult for people to acknowledge the intense trauma we all experienced. Just because some of us coped better or were less materially affected does not invalidate other people’s experiences. I guess that’s another fun legacy of covid: a notable decrease in empathy and compassion. Ironically.

Strongly agree.

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work in education and people who came of age and were still in K-12 or college during COVID are developmentally stunted. They don't seem to have coping or problem solving skills and ignore deadlines and have trouble taking initiative.

We’re moving school districts next summer and are holding our daughter back - she’s young for her class and has diagnosed learning disabilities, and covid was a huge challenge to her learning.

I don’t know why it’s so difficult for people to acknowledge the intense trauma we all experienced. Just because some of us coped better or were less materially affected does not invalidate other people’s experiences. I guess that’s another fun legacy of covid: a notable decrease in empathy and compassion. Ironically.

Strongly agree.

Anonymous wrote:Disagree. I hardly give it a thought any more. It seems way in the past.

Our kids have some special needs. It seems way in the past for us too, but ever since the distance learning year our family continues to grapple with the academic, social, and mental health fallout.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work in education and people who came of age and were still in K-12 or college during COVID are developmentally stunted. They don't seem to have coping or problem solving skills and ignore deadlines and have trouble taking initiative.

We’re moving school districts next summer and are holding our daughter back - she’s young for her class and has diagnosed learning disabilities, and covid was a huge challenge to her learning.

I don’t know why it’s so difficult for people to acknowledge the intense trauma we all experienced. Just because some of us coped better or were less materially affected does not invalidate other people’s experiences. I guess that’s another fun legacy of covid: a notable decrease in empathy and compassion. Ironically.

But so much if it was self inflicted. That doesn’t make everyone a victim. People went way overboard and now have to suffer the consequences.

NP. You highlight what has caused is shift in my worldview from which I am having trouble recovering. You think that people went "overboard" by following public health advice, taking COVID seriously as a health risk, and trying to do their part to avoid spreading it when certain members of the community were at greater risk. Your "overboard" was my trying to be a decent human being. The new narrative is that any fallout from restricted activities or isolation was self-inflicted and, therefore, not worth acknowledging or addressing.

I'll say that my view of "experts" in various realms has become increasingly distrustful. This is particularly true with those in public health and education, where experts offered assurances that were solely focused on maintaining desired outcomes without honest acknowledgment or discussion of potential long-term consequences.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was charge on one of the Covid units. I've learned to be more assertive, trust my instinct more, and advocate harder. By the end, I was scarily accurate on predicting patient outcomes and figuring out what they needed.

I'm sure there negatives to what I went through, but I learned long ago to only concentrate on the positives

I still remember smoking on planes. Ashtrays in armrests, and just stick the smoking passengers in the back few rows.

I remember visiting my mom at the office as a kid. One coworker would smoke cigars in his office (cigars!!), some smoked cigarettes and there was even one dude who smoked a pipe. I’m so glad times have changed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work in education and people who came of age and were still in K-12 or college during COVID are developmentally stunted. They don't seem to have coping or problem solving skills and ignore deadlines and have trouble taking initiative.

We’re moving school districts next summer and are holding our daughter back - she’s young for her class and has diagnosed learning disabilities, and covid was a huge challenge to her learning.

I don’t know why it’s so difficult for people to acknowledge the intense trauma we all experienced. Just because some of us coped better or were less materially affected does not invalidate other people’s experiences. I guess that’s another fun legacy of covid: a notable decrease in empathy and compassion. Ironically.

But so much if it was self inflicted. That doesn’t make everyone a victim. People went way overboard and now have to suffer the consequences.

Anonymous wrote:I work in education and people who came of age and were still in K-12 or college during COVID are developmentally stunted. They don't seem to have coping or problem solving skills and ignore deadlines and have trouble taking initiative.

We’re moving school districts next summer and are holding our daughter back - she’s young for her class and has diagnosed learning disabilities, and covid was a huge challenge to her learning.

I don’t know why it’s so difficult for people to acknowledge the intense trauma we all experienced. Just because some of us coped better or were less materially affected does not invalidate other people’s experiences. I guess that’s another fun legacy of covid: a notable decrease in empathy and compassion. Ironically.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have no issue with government or institutions. They did the best they could with the information that they had and I doubt most or any of you could have done better.

I am sincerely affected in how I view my fellow Americans. The selfish disdain for others. The ignorance. Questioning experts based on their keyboard searches. I have little faith in people, their community concern, their kindness. And this manifests itself more and more every day, since COVID.

I’m affected by realizing how weak and neurotic so many of my fellow Americans are.

History will show that all these concerns are justified. Just because someone pays attention and thinks doesn’t mean they’re neurotic.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have no issue with government or institutions. They did the best they could with the information that they had and I doubt most or any of you could have done better.

I am sincerely affected in how I view my fellow Americans. The selfish disdain for others. The ignorance. Questioning experts based on their keyboard searches. I have little faith in people, their community concern, their kindness. And this manifests itself more and more every day, since COVID.

I’m affected by realizing how weak and neurotic so many of my fellow Americans are.

Media scare tactics + social media + loneliness epidemic have made people so vulnerable. Everyone just doom scrolling their days away, with the messaging perfectly curated to stoke their deepest fears and anxieties.

Yes. I am a regular NY Times and Wash Post reader and it is insane how much it’s curated to make people feel scared and panicked. They did it all through covid and now they’ve moved on to climate change. Steady drumbeat of doomsday messaging.

I’m not suggesting covid and climate change aren’t real. Both very much are. But when you take even a a slight step back it’s pretty easy to to see how the left is being force fed this very neurotic and anxiety-provoking view of the world.

I don’t consume conservative media but I’m sure it’s the same thing. This is an equal opportunity problem.