Sometimes it's better to light a flamethrower than curse the darkness

I saw a conversation between two other people on fedi about covid denial.

We used to talk about "covid denial" as an antivaxxer thing, but almost everyone does it now. People "just have a cold." They're sick a lot this summer. They pretend it's not abnormal to be sick this much. And to never really get better --people shrug off long-covid symptoms like brain fog and fatigue with excuses like "I'm feeling my age lately."

Reading someone saying

what i really notice is the method of denial is that it is ILLEGAL NOT ALLOWED FORBIDDEN to talk about covid at all in any way at any gathering. among liberal types, not a single person will acknowledge how one of us (me) is conspicuously wearing a 3m fully sealing N95 mask just to attend the event

we DO NOT talk about long covid, the wave of new conditions, the community members falling ill and off the radar. i am honestly amazed even after all this time

reminded me of something that happened at work the other day which I wanted to blog about and never got around to.

I was talking to my manager about a particular report about travel habits in the UK which might be useful for my work but since the data was collected either during or just after the last lockdown, it's not a useful baseline of public transport activity.

When I mentioned this, my manager agreed with me and said something like "You're the only one who remembers covid." Not in an accusing way or anything, just making an ob. Clearly based on the fact that I'm still masking and I've never seen any of my colleagues wear a mask at in-person gatherings. Almost a year ago already, I had a terrible time trying to find out what ventilation etc. would be like for a mandatory gathering of 150+ people in one room.

You're the only one who remembers covid.

I made a joke (about how it was like that movie where only one guy remembered the Beatles) but it was to cover my discomfort at this sentence. It didn't feel funny to me at all. It felt eerie. Still does.

Anyway I know I'm not the only one who remembers covid. If you remember too, you're not alone either. It's hard but we're not wrong.