Conflict

How do they do it?

I don't get it - how do they keep these diametrically opposite positions in their heads at the same time and not be in pain from the illogic of it all?

What possible logical reason could there be to think wearing a piece of cloth over your face is living in fear... but taking a personal arsenal to the grocery store is not?

How is it that you are simultaneously a Constitutionalist and someone who thinks that the First Amendment applies to private social media companies?

Why on earth would you think that you personally are important enough for the government or Bill Gates or whoever "they" are this week to track with an alleged microchip?

Is there an actual rational explanation for certain companies and publishing houses changing things around? One that is maybe not some bizarre conspiracy theory about gendered potatoes or racist picture books?

Where does it say that athletes' performances and choices are subject to your couch-potato opinions? "Are you not entertained?"

I've even heard a few real doozies - like the one where the aliens are tracking us with something in the Covid-19 vaccine, even though the earth is flat and we've never been to the moon and the whole pandemic is a hoax anyway.

Why would the aliens even bother?

People who think this way confuse me. I mean, do they wear a seatbelt when going sixty down the interstate? Wash their hands after using the bathroom? Wear a shirt and shoes into the grocery store? You'd think that even the folks who are hesitant about the vaccine would still wash up and wear a mask to stay as safe as they can.

But the majority of them I've seen, they just don't.

Of course, these seem to be the same people - or at least there's a lot of overlap - who think we're teaching kindergartners about anal sex and who think we shouldn't tell the whole story about our history because it'll upset people, I guess. The same folks who say, "Gosh, I just don't know what happened," when their kid goes off the rails or blames D&D or porn or video games or their kids' "mental health" (without ever doing anything about these things) for bad behavior.

I mean, as long as you repent, right? Once a week, anyway.

There have been similar posts before, even by me, lots of them. But I've been thinking a lot about this lately, and I can't wrap my head around this issue.

Why?

Why are people like this?

I mean, I'm sure it's not all people, not even most people.

But it sure is loud people.

And I'm tired. Tired of trying to comprehend, tired of the constant attempts to see their points of view.

Their points of view seem to (usually) boil down to "I've got mine, so fuck you." Or occasionally, "Wearing a mask is a huge burden, equivalent to slavery (which wasn't really all that bad anyway, just look at our one-sided history books!) and getting a shot I don't want to get is even worse!"

Look, if my fat and asthmatic middle-aged self can wear a mask, so can you. If my adolescent and needle-phobic teen can get a shot, so can you."

If we had done it from the get-go, all of us who can, we wouldn't be in this mess right now. If you didn't think you know better than actual trained experts, we wouldn't be as badly off as we are. If you hadn't written off those of us who are old or ill, we wouldn't have lost over 600,000 people.

But no, you had to be all special and tough and rebel-cowboy about it.

Not that you'll even acknowledge your part in it.

And of course I'm not talking about people who can't wear a mask or get the vaccine. I'm talking about those who won't. Because the rest of us - our lives - just aren't as important as your convenience.