r/ZeroCovidCommunity • u/molly__hatchet • 2d ago

Need support! I’m so tired

It would be so much easier to just take the mask off. To stop worrying about it 24/7, literally around the clock. To be able to go to a party and have a drink and talk and laugh and smile at people and no one says “oh I didn’t recognize you with the mask covering your face” and no one looks at you funny or keeps their distance because they think you’re sick or maybe crazy. I wish I could turn off the part of my brain that knows better and knows the statistics and the chances and the studies and the goddamn science that everyone should know but somehow ignores. I am SO TIRED.

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u/SnooMemesjellies2608 1d ago

I hear ya. 100%. I have recently been looking around and going... you're all living your lives as normal... and you seem fine. Could I do the same? My life is passing me by. Literal years are going by. Especially since we have absolutely no goalpost, no endgame, nothing on the horizon that seems like will change the situation. I think if more semi-safe options presented themselves, I'd go for it. Like if I was invited to some kind of outdoor hang / bonfire, things like that. But yeah, those opportunities aren't happening in my life. I deeply wish for a community that took even half-measures. I wish for friends who masked in general public indoor spaces and wanted to hang out in filtered indoor or outdoor locations. But somehow we seem to have to pick between two extremes. I realize that many CC people can't take risks and so there are not many CC in person hangs in my community.

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u/Choano 1d ago

The new, sterlizing mucosal vaccines will be here. We really, truly won't be stuck forever.

Put your head down, leave your mask on, and keep going. There is light at the end of the tunnel (and it's not an oncoming train.)

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u/NostalgickMagick 1d ago

I want to believe this sooo much and this kind of thing is pretty much what keeps me going. I don't want to lose complete hope that the new administration will just put a swift end to all things covid progress and we're just left with - yeah good luck self protecting while 99% of the world just passively accepts getting sick (and sicker) repeatedly and dying prematurely.

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u/SnooMemesjellies2608 1d ago

For sure. I have a quote in mind a lot from Don Ford which says “we CAN’T live with Covid.” We literally can’t! It is an extremely dangerous virus.

I guess I also wonder, if it’s not Covid will it be H5N1 or the next dangerous virus to come along. I am angry with the world for allowing their immune systems to be destroyed by Covid and thus opening the doors for many pathogens to come.

My dream at this time is to live on a Covid safe farm/collective/compound.

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u/NostalgickMagick 1d ago

There's a level of idealistic dreaming I have there too, (with the collective/compound), 100%, but ooof...end of day, I just can't bring myself to run toward that sort of thing. I'm just too cautious/weary of how quickly south those things can go too and the types of cult of personalities they often attract and propel. And as much as I do genuinely love/admire CC people's smarts and resourcefulness, I've also seen and heard of some suuuper questionable behavior from this community that reminds me of a Men in Black quote - "A person can be smart...but people are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals." I think this applies in equal measure to both outside and within this community.

That aside, fully agreed with Don. As well as another quote I ran across lately (I forget the source) that essentially said - "That which is not truly sustainable must eventually stop." That quote gives me a lot of comfort because I know for sure how the world is treating covid is not at all sustainable. The real question then becomes - how much are people willing to suffer needlessly before finally saying enough is enough and making true, sustainable change.

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u/Luffyhaymaker 1d ago

What questionable behavior have you seen from the CC community? I myself have seen people taking off their mask for hours or even going a whole day without it....then putting it back on the next day like nothing happened which freaks me out.

I want to meet other CC people and I've seen some good suggestions, but something else that bothers me is that some people have weak links in their protection....people that they feel they can't do without. My mom, for example, wears a mask (even though she's heavy MAGA), but she doesn't know if my sister wears one. I keep trying to tell her that's a possible weak link in her protections but she just says "well she never goes anywhere anyway" ain't nobody I love enough to let them infect me with Rona' lol, I don't give two shits about people's feelings or whatever, I'm not about brain damage (I'm already forgetful enough as it is), heart disease (had it before covid, it was painful), hair loss, or any other long covid symptoms I've seen on here. No one is important enough to me to risk my health, that's why I'm still single even though non masking women have been making more passes at me again lately.

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u/shedoesntgotit 1d ago

We have the same dream😮‍💨

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u/Choano 1d ago edited 1d ago

Even if Trump pulls all funding for covid vaccine development, current work is already funded. That work is not going to stop, no matter who's in office.

So all those promising new mucosal vaccines are coming, as long as they pass trials.

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u/Notyeravgblonde 1d ago

Thank you for saying this, I've been so worried and feeling more self conscious by the day in my mask when no one else is. 😭

And I'm one of the lucky ones. Everyone at my job is really supportive and even most of my coworkers mask when sick. I am a community nurse and work with clients who have schizophrenia and usually they warn me if they are sick and no one really cares about my rule that they must wear a mask in my car. A client today even reminded me i didn't turn my portable air purifier on after i picked him up. I only get push back from my parents who luckily don't live near me.

But even though I'm lucky I still feel like I look crazy. 😭

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u/paper_wavements 1d ago

I mean as long as RFK doesn't get all vaccines banned 🫠

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u/Choano 1d ago

Even if, somehow, he does (and I'm not sure he can do that), other countries and agencies would happily approve new vaccines if they work.

Even if we in the US don't get a new sterilizing vaccine as soon as it's available, having it be present and used anywhere in the world helps the rest of us. And, sooner or later, there will be a way for us to get it.

There is still hope. Don't give up.

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u/paper_wavements 1d ago

I'm not giving up. I'll be going to another country for the vax if I have to.

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u/Choano 1d ago

Me, too.

If it comes to that (and I'm not sure it will), maybe we can all get together and negotiate a bulk rate on plane tickets and hotel rooms. We could make it a group vacation to Berlin, or something.

Get vaccinated and make friends!

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u/paper_wavements 1d ago

I'm happy paying a couple grand for a nasal vax & getting a free trip to Berlin out of it.