what the what

Vacation, yay? This is the first proper trip I've taken since pre-pandemic, which is simultaneously great and kind of terrifying. So, sure, restrictions have eased a great deal in recent months, but in NYC, everyone still wears a mask in stores and on public transit, and often on the streets as well. I am currently in Colorado, where NO ONE WEARS MASKS EVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES apparently, which is just...freaking me out a bit. Like, yes, I am vaccinated, but not everyone is, and there's no way to know who is or isn't, so like...it just feels safer and more courteous to wear a mask regardless, at least in small enclosed public spaces where you have a lot of one-on-one contact (like, you know, grocery store). Instead everyone gives us weird looks like we're the freaks for still wearing our masks indoors. I do not like this kind of peer pressure. There's still a pandemic going on! The Delta variant is on the rise everywhere, and also specifically in this state! WHAT THE FUCK PEOPLE.

Am I the crazy paranoid one? I hate this feeling.

We're here primarily for family, and that part is fine, though I'm already exhausted (three days in) from having to play extrovert constantly. I'm just...not used to interacting with people anymore, apart from my wife and occasionally my parents or individual friends. Lots of people all at once is exhausting.

I'm gonna go back to work more burned out than I left it, aren't I? But hey, at least that's not a thing I'm thinking about this week. Work.

(It's mostly good, honestly. I just feel like I've stepped into a parallel universe and it makes me super uncomfortable.)