What has shocked you most about a semi post pandemic world

[SweetSue92]

1. I didn't quite understand how different blue vs red states were. When my daughter came from WA to AR to visit me back in February, she was shocked that masks weren't being widely warn here. When I traveled via car [my wife talked me into vacation by saying that we could take the new MX-5 for a 2,000 mile road trip] from AR to FL last late summer, masks were rarely found as I traveled through AR, MS, GA, FL. Back in the fall of 2020, the same thing when we took a 4,000 mile road trip. Masks were only worn in blue states
2. What shocks me is who is wearing masks still. It isn't middle age people and rarely older people but kids. On my short trip to the office, I will pass two schools within the first quarter mile: Arts Academy High School and a college prep school. It isn't the students of the college prep school that are still wearing masks but the arts kids.
3. Fashion changed. The office that I work at, we all wear jeans including the CEO of a 2,000 employee company. But I generally will wear a nicely pressed dress shirt. Those have pretty much disappeared in the shops.
4. My department [IT] has lost nearly 60% of our staff over the past 12 months. The vast majority of those who left [we normally get together once a month or so] work from home. Being forced to work from home those first few months opened up the floodgates to people working at home but for a company that is across the country. One of the reasons that we get together is because they have discovered that they miss human interaction.
5. Movies are just now beginning to return and it has only been in the past 4 months where theaters have been sold out. I honestly thought that would happen sooner

I have many observations and thoughts but will start with this one:

I thought more people were smart...or at least, smarter. Smart enough to see through clear BS. Smart enough to wade through obvious talking points.

Nope. Not smart. Or at least not smart enough.

 

[eagle1462010]

That some still wear masks.......Even when it's over and study after study shows they had no effect.

CDC: 85% of COVID-19 patients report ‘always’ or ‘often’ wearing a mask

Americans are wearing masks. They're just not working.

dossier.substack.com

An underreported, recently-published CDC study adds to the pile of evidence that cloth masks or other forms of mandated face coverings only contribute negatives to our COVID-19 problem. The study also displays — despite the constant accusations of widespread misbehavior from public health officials — that Americans are adhering to mask wearing, but mask wearing is not doing us any good.

The CDC study, which surveyed symptomatic COVID-19 patients, has found that 70.6% of respondents reported “always” wearing a mask, while an additional 14.4% say they “often” wear a mask. That means a whopping 85% of infected COVID-19 patients reported habitual mask wearing. Only 3.9% of those infected said they “never” wear a face covering.