There are a lot of things that have changed since last year, but there are some things that I could have never predicted. One of these things being that I do nott want to hug people anymore. Since the beginning of quarantine, I used to crave human touch because I was always an outgoing person. I hugged everyone and loved a point of contact – as long as it was consensual. Now, I actively avoid everyone and feel awkward hugging someone that I even live with because I’m scared. Even beyond hugging, I find myself facing a lot of socialization issues.
Before COVID , I was an extreme extrovert. I loved talking to people and would often strike up conversations with complete strangers. I loved stopping someone on the street and complimenting them. Nothing made me happier than seeing someone else smile. After almost a year of being stuck at home, I find myself struggling to “properly” interact with others.. I accidentally blurt things out and my body language feels more rigid when checking out of the grocery store nowadays. You can see how many other people feel socially isolated and strained from TikTok videos describing similar experiences of fumbling during our limited interactions. Just today, I saw three separate videos of people complaining about how they have changed and struggle to correctly interact with others.
Yet, there is a group of people who refuse to comply with any of the guidelines, and they are the reason cases continue to rise. They have yet to suffer the social isolation side effects of COVID as they are constantly violating safety rules to hang out with their friends.. Meanwhile, I’m too scared to hug a friend that I know is distancing properly and is fully masked because COVID isn’t a joke. Some people are fully operating like it’s February of 2020 rather than shutting down like the rest of us in order to try to protect the community. I get wearing a mask can feel like a burden and some people do not want things to change, but people are dying and that is not going to change until we stop reckless gatherings.
This issue is going to continue even after herd immunity through vaccination because it does not make you immune to contracting the virus and people will continue to be impacted and we need to continue to follow risk reduction protocol. It’s not going to suddenly be “back to normal.” This is the new normal of being careful and courteous. We will continue to face challenges from the impacts of social isolation, but it is worth it. I do not mind fumbling a little more often than before knowing that I did the right thing in protecting those in the community.
I know change is hard, facing new situations and limitations is hard, but things are meant to change and we are going to be okay. It seems like those who are following the rules are being punished because we are facing a ton of new problems, but at least we are nott killing people due to our selfish actions.
Stay safe everyone, we can get through this together and no matter what effects it has on us, it is worth the sacrifice.