Thank you for sharing your story. It's heartbreaking. Perhaps someday, under another name, I will share my own story. I will say though that these covid years have been like living through a horror movie; so many people's minds and hearts so strangely and so suddenly clamped shut. But those of us who could see what was (and still is) hap…
Thank you for sharing your story. It's heartbreaking. Perhaps someday, under another name, I will share my own story. I will say though that these covid years have been like living through a horror movie; so many people's minds and hearts so strangely and so suddenly clamped shut. But those of us who could see what was (and still is) happening are, more and more, realizing that were were never alone, although it seemed so in 2020-2022, and, slowly but surely, we are finding each other.
My old friends (who sound a lot like your old friends)-- I gave up on them a long time ago. They were making no more sense in their thinking about all things covid in 2024 than they were in 2022 or, for that matter, 2020 and, as a general principle, without an abundance of caution, I don't attempt to bang sense into people who are not in their right minds. Some of these individuals I'm still friendly with, but it's "smile and wave," gee, I'm so busy these days, don't know where the time flies, etc. I much prefer my own company, or new friends of more sturdy character. I miss them— but I always have to remind myself, what I miss is my misperception of them as having character and intellect and heart that they did not in fact have.
I often wonder how this will play out. It seems to me that some now know they've been conned, but they don't want to talk about it. Most continue to take refuge in the old canard, "imagine, it would have been worse, I might have died of covid if I hadn't taken all those boosters." I learned early on that attempting to speak frankly with them is like poking an intoxicated person with a stick. So I don't.
I'm not saying my choice in this painful matter is best for others, but it's best for me.
This: "...what I miss is my misperception of them as having character and intellect and heart that they did not in fact have." That is, indeed, the hardest. Thanks for this, TB.
Thank you for sharing your story. It's heartbreaking. Perhaps someday, under another name, I will share my own story. I will say though that these covid years have been like living through a horror movie; so many people's minds and hearts so strangely and so suddenly clamped shut. But those of us who could see what was (and still is) happening are, more and more, realizing that were were never alone, although it seemed so in 2020-2022, and, slowly but surely, we are finding each other.
My old friends (who sound a lot like your old friends)-- I gave up on them a long time ago. They were making no more sense in their thinking about all things covid in 2024 than they were in 2022 or, for that matter, 2020 and, as a general principle, without an abundance of caution, I don't attempt to bang sense into people who are not in their right minds. Some of these individuals I'm still friendly with, but it's "smile and wave," gee, I'm so busy these days, don't know where the time flies, etc. I much prefer my own company, or new friends of more sturdy character. I miss them— but I always have to remind myself, what I miss is my misperception of them as having character and intellect and heart that they did not in fact have.
I often wonder how this will play out. It seems to me that some now know they've been conned, but they don't want to talk about it. Most continue to take refuge in the old canard, "imagine, it would have been worse, I might have died of covid if I hadn't taken all those boosters." I learned early on that attempting to speak frankly with them is like poking an intoxicated person with a stick. So I don't.
I'm not saying my choice in this painful matter is best for others, but it's best for me.
This: "...what I miss is my misperception of them as having character and intellect and heart that they did not in fact have." That is, indeed, the hardest. Thanks for this, TB.
I've stuck my neck out a few times lately and get met with utterly blank looks. Their brains are stuck and its disturbing.
This is especially insightful:
"...what I miss is my misperception of them as having character and intellect and heart that they did not in fact have."