Oh, this reminds me. I was asked to go to a Chiropractic "doctor" this weekend for a check up. That's nonsense to begin with, but I went anyway.
She asked about my back hurting, and I mentioned that I threw it out really badly when I got COVID a year or two ago, and was stuck in bed coughing super hard for a week. Her immediate response was "I've heard the vaccine can do that."
... Like, fucking what? How god damn stupid do you have to be to hear "I threw my back out coughing really hard." and instantly try to insert your anti-science bullshit into the conversation?
I gained the superpower of crippling anxiety, depression and panic attacks. I had very mild anxiety prior to Covid, but something broke in my brain after I got sick.
I am anxious and yet constantly tired. I can barely function before noon and can't shut my brain off to sleep.
I hat every fucking person on Earth who said it was bs.
I was assaulted by a family member for not giving “IV Ivermectin” to someone with COVID who I had just crash intubated (honestly thought they were going to code, but somehow didn’t) back during the Delta wave.
My view of humanity has gotten pretty pessimistic since COVID. If I had the guts I’d honestly love to go create an insulated community of people who actually think about stuff and want to help each other.
I still see "heroes work here" banners outside of healthcare facilities and nursing homes. I imagine a number of the low-paid and overworked staff say "fuck you, pay me more" every time they drive by too.
Also would have accepted the meme with the Muppet like puppets being asked "and what did we learn?' and they all scream "Nothing!!"
I wonder if it would've been on net better if COVID had been deadlier. Like if people had been dying from a new disease with blood gushing out of their eyes, would idiots have taken it seriously? Probably not.
Worked through this myself. Not as a nurse or care assistant, but as an NHS binman. Still saw lots of shit I basically cant talk about (not due to emotion but due to Trust policy as its a bit too specific). Saw doctors, nurses, care assistants walking around like zombies after having worked 18 hours straight. Saw morons walk in and film them thinking there was some major conspiracy. Heard the lungs of patients rattling as they struggled to breath. Two workers I knew died. Heard from colleagues how some other morons had "served legal papers" on the staff (thats not how you get "served" here btw) and then saw it on the BBC 6 oclock news. I also saw the hard work of every delivery driver, supermarket worker.
What did I learn? That some people will fight to save your life, even if you've not taken heed of all the advice.
I have a two year old niece now. I'm reminded of when I was a kid in the early 80s and war veterans would come and talk to us about WW2 and Korea. I am thinking it would be good if some of us did the same for these kids in a few years. If we went and talked about what we saw, not the scary/nasty stuff, but the stuff that makes people hopeful for humanity.
I have to admit, before Covid i didn't think people would be joining the war on disease on the side of disease in any meaningful numbers and yet here we are. I think we may be in decline as a civilization, not sure how that kind of brain rot is survivable.
This pretty well sums it up. It's hard to believe it's been four years. It used to feel like it'd been ongoing for forever. Now it feels like a dream. What a fucked up thing we went through and how fucked is it that my brain can just sort of "forget". I guess that's how we cope. It isn't evolutionarily advantageous to dwell on the real threats. Only on the stupid social fuckups that happened that embarrassed me.
Covid awareness? On Lemmy? Getting over a thousand points? It feels like I'm in a dream.
Reminder to everyone that wearing a well fitting n95 mask in public takes very little effort but helps others (who may be immunocompromised, already battling long covid or other conditions, or otherwise vulnerable) and yourself avoid getting sick which can save people from chronic pain, disability, death, and more. Please do what you can to take precautions and prevent the spread of disease!
PS: I recommend 3M's Aura respirators. I know 3M sucks (understatement) but they do make a good and affordable n95. If you have issues with your glasses fogging up with masks on, this one is for you.
Covid was the most terrifying time of my life (i know covid itself is still here). I have a severe health anxiety disorder and a single ache of spot on my body can instantly convince me i have a terminal cancer or illness and i WILL die.
After about a year i finally build up all courage to go to the supermarket with my partner, wearing a good fitting mask.
We stood at the checkout and this guy asked another guy who wasn't wearing a mask, and standing waaaay to close to them, to please keep his distance and to please wear a mask. The guy instantly got aggressive and knocked the man out for asking him to please keep distance and wear a mask.
I didn't go anywhere again.
I still struggle with all of this. After 2016 it felt like people got a free pass for conspiracy and fascist shit. I'm from europe but the trump presidency had a big influence here too. So many conspiracies that trump shouted got popular over here and fascist parties got A LOT more popular. Hell, a fascist party won the election here less than a year ago.
I lost a lot of hope and love for humanity. But i also see smart and beautiful humans fight for us every day. Whether its with climate and antifascist protests or through videos i find on social media or the news. And i cant give up hope or stop fighting for them.
I cant let those people down. Because if people like that exist, there is hope.
We learned that in the zombie apocalypse, there is gonna be people that march right into the horde convinced it wont kill them and that zombies arent real.
My only time with covid nearly took me out, and that was with my both vaccinations(both parts of each). Decided after that to continue wearing masks to large public gatherings.
I've been through some rough surgeries due to certain medical conditions I have, but nothing compares to the aches of covid while your chest feels like it's got multiple weights on it and you're seeing stars with every little small cough. I never want to feel that way again.
In the context, "I know, over a million Americans have died" stinks nationalism from a distance - because it implies that the tragedy is not people dying; it's only when those people pay taxes to the same government as you. (16~28M people died, regardless of country, by the way.)
Not sure if the author realises the nationalism in that. Probably not.
I'm just glad so many the ignorer's died. 1/10th less idiots to deal with.
I lost more than a few friends, but illnesses hit the olds and conservatives hard. Illness cares nothing for faith or politics, it just wants to feed. Greed of southern politicians and priests kill their constituency higher than elsewhere.
Breaking the Deep South is important for the country continuing unified. The rest of the country won't hold up Oklahoma to Florida otherwise. They are dead weight.
Are we still pretending the measures they took actually worked? I mean really guys, if you think that we needed more intervention to stop the covid then I dont really know what to tell you.