pinene:

the american psyche is such that people will happily spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars on cameras and smart doorbells and alarm systems for the incredibly unlikely event of a home invasion, but like wont wear a mask because we can’t live in fear

(i read this as “American Psycho” and thought for a second that it was about people fearing home invasion bc they watch too much horror)

…but this is all very true. Sigh.

Also, of the Americans who do claim to be concerned about COVID and other contagious illness? VASTLY more of them will obsess about washing their hands, sterilizing surfaces, and shaming anyone else for not doing so.

I’ve had my coworkers at the pharmacy wipe down the whole counter with Lysol after a COVID patient was in, and yet I’m the only one in a mask just pathetically standing there saying “…but it’s spread mostly through the air isnt it?”

I mean. Part of it is that masks are uncomfortable and unfashionable, yeah. But i think also part of it is that “unwashed hands and unsterilized surfaces” are more viscerally upsetting to some people than “virus-laden air,” despite the lower disease risk… because the thing that really disgusts them is poor people.