Doomliving

“Doomscrolling” is endlessly scrolling through bad news, and we’ve all done a lot of it lately, and it’s why I’m painfully aware of the how many covidiots are opposed to masks. But it’s one thing to see it while doomscrolling, and another to encounter it in person (in British Columbia, no less, which has had one of the best pandemic responses in the world). I recently had an awful conversation with elderly, retired nurse who is nearly always haunting my favourite coffee shop. I knew her only as a familiar, friendly face. But then she shared three opinions about masks:

1. Masks caused oxygen deprivation.
2. They don’t work “as well as everyone thinks.”
3. Everyone is “too scared of this, it’s just a flu”

I did not give my opinion — “you’re a dangerous 🤬 fool” — because it was a bit intense for the social context, because I don’t want my favourite coffee shop permanently spoiled by a deep chill with someone who’s there 80% of the time I go in.

But the covidiocy is more real to me now.