Now that vaccines are starting to roll out, people are starting to get more confident about going out, things are starting to open up, and everything else…

I’m starting to think…”Now wait just a minute now! I’m not sure that I’m quite ready for all of this social outside world stuff!”

One of my friends has been fully vaxxed for a while, and recently started hinting at (gasp) meeting for social stuff inside his house. Number one, we didn’t really do stuff inside his house before the plague, and number two, I’m very allergic to his dogs! Hold your horses there, buddy!

I know I “should” miss going out to bars, going to fully packed restaurants/bars for trivia tournaments, sitting at the bar for happy hour drinks, going to beer festivals, and doing “social stuff.” I do miss being able to visit my parents and family without having to be masked and outside. But the other stuff? It turns out I don’t miss it as much as I thought I would. Yes, I really want a hair cut, and I’m putting that off until I’m fully vaxxed – mainly because my haircut requires a bit of explanation, and I don’t have a “regular” person who knows how to cut my hair at the moment.

I’m not going to be pressured into doing anything socially that makes me feel uncomfortable or unsafe, no matter what my fully vaxxed friends and family members say, and even if I become fully vaxxed myself. I’m not thinking of it as an invincibility ray that will allow me to go boldly unmasked into a crowded bar full of people singing and talking at full volume (the horror)! Yes, I do miss karaoke (I’m not going to lie)! I’m not going to start licking toilet seats, gas pump handles, door handles and elevator buttons and laughing sinisterly, “bwa ha ha, ‘rona! You can’t take me – I’ve had both doses of the Moderna vaccine!” I know the vaccinations are only going to (hopefully) increase my odds of not dying or getting very, very sick from the virus. It’s not going to keep me or my vaccinated friends from still being able to spread it, it’s not going to be a permanent solution, it was approved only as an emergency measure and realistically, I’ll probably be more of a hermit in the next few years than I’ve ever been. Yes, I still go out for drinks in spaced-out outdoor settings and even occasionally meet friends in such a fashion. And I’m OK with that. I’m also OK with seeing friends and family in Zoom calls. I actually like being socially distanced from other gross people. I like being able to hide my resting bitch face with a mask so people don’t tell me to smile. Ever notice how it’s always women who are being told to smile (usually by men)? Ugh, that’s another blog topic entirely! I’ll damn well smile when I’m happy, and when you tell me to smile, well – that doesn’t make me very happy!

I never liked huge crowds anyway BEFORE the plague, so I don’t know why I’d suddenly grow to love them after getting a couple of shots in my arm. Unless there is some additional ingredient that causes people’s personalities to completely flip. The Moderna vaccine supposedly has something “extra” in it, doesn’t it? 🙂

I know that as Americans, we’re just not that good at doing anything in moderation. We have too many heart attacks, we drink too much, smoke too much, have too much sex, drive too fast, take too many drugs (legal and illegal), eat too much, have too many guns and watch way too many reality shows. Telling the masses to keep wearing the masks and taking social interactions easy isn’t going to go over well with some folks. I fear the vaccine is only going to make the masses more confident about doing the stupid disease-spreading shit that got us to where we were about a year ago. I want nothing more than to be wrong about this. Yes, I want “normal” again, too. But I’m also patient – and don’t want to “be” a patient.

So…my germophobia will continue until people stop being so bloody stupid. Now pardon me while I slather some sanitizer on my hands and spray myself down completely with disinfectant 🙂