i was looking at seed packets when an older woman said, i love your mask! i said thank you, ☺️ it's so nice not getting sick. she said she wears one sometimes (she had a floral-printed cloth one around her neck), and asked if i had ever gotten covid. it was horrible, she said; she'd gotten long covid afterwards and lost tons of hair, had skin problems all over her body, didn't have enough energy to leave bed for months. she'd stood in her kitchen, and fainted out of nowhere - tipped straight back and came to looking at the ceiling, then had to go to the ER to check for a concussion. i said, i'm so sorry - i got long covid too, POTS from it. the govt's inaction is like watching cigarettes and cancer happen all over again, in slow motion.
she said it's disgusting how the cdc isn't talking about it anymore, just because people aren't dying as often. i agreed, but added that even though the govt's stopped covering it, more than 100,000 americans still die from it each year, which makes their silence even worse! as does their ignoring that covid is now the most common chronic condition in american kids, and a recent study found 1 in 6 people experience it. fucking criminal that they don't emphasize how most spread happens before people feel sick, and that infections can trigger problems that show up months later.
then her friend came over, and we parted ways. on one hand, it makes me desperately sad that she went through that, and the propaganda and peer pressure are so strong that she's still only masking sometimes, seemingly with a cloth mask 😞 example 58 million of the govt fucking hanging people out to dry. on the other hand, it's reaffirming to talk to a stranger likewise angry about the govt negligence, and it's a helpful reminder that even if people look and act like they're in 2019, covid is privately fucking them over too. no one is immune 😔😷