I've had that same experience a time or two after extended periods at home. The first time it'd been nearly two weeks since I'd spoken to another human besides my family and I was really uncomfortable. Fortunately I'm pretty much an open book and told the lady so. She seemed to understand completely.
This weekend I made my first solo trip out since I broke my leg in December. I was focused on not slipping again on the snow and ice, and my leg was bothering me a lot, so I was surprised and embarrassed when an employee reminded me I needed a mask and offered me one. I had been limping around the store for about 15 minutes, completely forgetting about the mask I had in my pocket.
I might have a bad reaction to it but not letting that keep me a complete shut in. This winter has been much worse on the cabin fever front than last spring and summer. I normally hunker in a bit this time of year but having virtually done nothing for the past 12 months I feel the seasonal depression heavier this year than in years past. We did a handful of virtual tailgates and watched football games together over zoom. Also did a lame ass thanksgiving bingo with like 15 family members. Just not like face to face human interaction. A big load off is my mom just got her first shot and her older boyfriend has gotten both of his.
I've found I get some mild anxiety just watching big crowds of people on TV. Was watching a show a couple of days ago that was shot during Carnival in Brazil. It was filmed a few years go so it's not like there was anything wrong with the gathering but it still made me uncomfortable in a way that I have not experienced pre-pandemic.
I have to say that I'm really happy with how my Mom has adjusted to things. In the start, she was very "meh, who cares, it's just a cold". She now gets it fully, and is very diligent. Our neighbours seem to be treating it differently... there's the across the court neighbours who are just morons and pretend to wear a mask but still socialize with their international pilot son in law, all their kids, grandkids, etc. "Oh, Robert is bored so after he does his school work, and works at the grocery store stocking shelves, he then comes over and re-arranges stuff in our house for us for some extra cash". If anyone in our area is going to be toast, it has to be them. Just completely oblivious, and don't care. "Oh well, at least we get to spend time with our kids." What they are really saying is, "well, if we do die from this, at least we got to spend some time with our kids". Boggles my mind. But yeah, mom... I invited one of our other neighbours to come hang out in the snowy back yard around the fire pit... drink some scotch, have a cigar, and smell some quality hardwood shavings burn. He was all for it as he's going stir crazy at his house. Mom kind of freaked out and demanded that we socially distance, etc. "Of course we are... don't worry..." It's really refreshing to see her think that way, compared to just a few months ago. I also convinced her to book herself on a world cruise in January of 2023 so she can spend some of that cash she's spent decades earning and saving, so she is. That's keeping her really busy as well.. just focusing on the 120 day itinerary, figuring out where they're going, what there is to see... it's great "enrichment" to help with the cabin fever.
It’s straight-up weird. I’m the last person I can think of that gets freaked out by crowds or claustrophobic in any way, but a few months away from the norm, and I feel like I’m starting in “Jacob’s Ladder” when I go out. Imagine doing a dime in prison and then try to go grocery shopping for the first time. That term “institutionalized” is no joke.
I was once part of a 6 person mineral exploration team out in Yukon. We'd get helicopter supply drops once a week, and every other week, we'd see an additional 3 people when we went to base camp for a shower. Coming back to Vancouver after 3 months of that was dizzying. I wasn't ready for how fast I accommodated to the low number of people.
When I took a year off and traveled with my partner, we spent a huge amount of time alone - out exploring, of course, and often around other people, sometimes even in big crowds, but frequently not speaking the local language, and not knowing anyone. I didn't think much of it while we traveled, it just became the new normal. We made friends, but true social interactions were still much fewer and further between. When I got back to the US and went out to the bar with a group for the first time, it was incredibly jarring and actually invoked mild panic. People shouting back and forth across the table, a whole social group where multiple people might be vying for your attention... I struggled with it big time, and it made me really empathize for people who have social anxiety. For months afterwards I had to ease myself back into social situations and put limits on the duration just so that I could enjoy them. People who weren't close friends didn't really know, and didn't understand why I'd turn down bar invitations or whatever. Getting out of jail must be like getting dumped into a place where you no longer speak the language and don't understand the rules.
I've been feeling this a lot lately - watching TV but also in old pictures and social media posts - just seeing people that close together is definitely anxiety provoking. Makes me wonder how long it will take us to shake off some of that anxiety when the pandemic is finally starting to wind down. I think "normal" is a long way off, but I am hoping by this summer that my family and some close friends will all be vaccinated, and cases will be low enough to comfortably spend time together when we aren't all sitting 6+ feet apart outside. But maybe that makes me naively optimistic. In other news, I got my second vaccine dose today, feeling ever so slightly febrile but otherwise fine. Bring on those antibodies.
I'm glad you were able to get it, both both of your benefits. I'm currently estimating that it won't be til July that I can get my vaccine. Hopefully things are speeding up and my slot comes up faster. There was an extremely limited study that showed good secondary immunities for breastfed babies whose moms got the vaccine. This is consistent with other known immunities passed through breastmilk. I am willing to breastfeed my baby as long as we both want to but am definitely seeing a bit of a drop off on how much milk baby is consuming due to all the solid foods we're shoveling in, and I am only expecting that shift to widen. I really need the vaccine asap because it probably won't be til 2022 til we have any testing on the youngest age group, let alone vaccine availability.
Australia is just about to receive its first shipment of the vaccine. I think I might be in the second round due to being Defence/Emergency Services but they haven't got much more than a rough outline of what the plan is. Was a bit worried I might have caught it last week as I'd started getting sick and had been through Melbourne where they're having another small outbreak but hadn't been to anywhere I might have been in contact and test came up negative last week so good to go.
After the past year, my wife and most others in my family now understand what it felt like coming home from deployments. Several months into the pandemic, my wife asked me why it seemed I was coping so much better than her... I replied, it was like I've deployed to our house.
This is, of course, until she deploys you to the cereal aisle.... ...that is the most perfectly-placed film shot ever. Too much information being funnelled into one mind.
I refer to that scene over and over again. It's a perfect encapsulation of being overwhelmed by choice and culture shock of coming back to the US. No where else on earth screams for your attention in so many mundane circumstances than here.
You have to give to him covering up covid deaths to a possibly criminal level is still not as bad to the public than Trumps handling.
He didn’t win an Emmy for that bullshit Italian accent. It’s faker than his brother’s dumbbells and bullshit COVID diagnosis. Fuck, do they suck.
Over the last couple of days there have been protests in Downtown Saskatoon about not wearing masks and taking back our freedom from an oppressive government. While driving to work I saw signs that were comparing the public school board’s mask mandate to the residential schools, which is so utterly infuriating and fucked up that I’m booking a week off work to fuck with these dickholes I spent this afternoon reaching out to everyone I know and we’re gonna turn their next few protests into a shitshow. Drag queens, scary looking former gang members, an army of coat and check clad cooks and chefs, and a two guys playing an accordion and a trumpet, all being lead by an ugly motherfucker who’s tired of the Mickey Mouse shit. If I vanish for a bit it’s because I’m doing a bid in Pine Grove for something violent.