ost of the people I observe “masking up” and obsessing on “getting tested” are younger millenials and Zers who simply haven’t lived long enough to realize that: yes, infectious respiratory diseases happen; and no, most of the time they greatly underperform their hype.
I’m in my seventh decade. I remember the Hong Kong Flu (school closed for two DAYS because of a lack of substitute teachers); the Avian Flu, the early days of AIDS, etc ad nauseum.
And in every case: the FEAR epidemic proved more disturbing and disruptive than the disease itself.
These skeered young’uns simply haven’t lived long enough.
“With age comes wisdom, but sometimes age comes alone.”
― Oscar Wilde
And Hong Kong flu was BAD.
But nobody masked up and freaked out about locking the whole world down for months on end.
I’m a pharma tech in a blue area. Most of the people like that here are mid-30’s and older, while the majority of those are over 50. The young ones are only coming in for shots if they’re going abroad.