covidiocy

almost daily, i'm surprised -- and not in a good way -- at how many citizens of earth seem to be so clueless or reckless or selfish when it comes to their behaviour amid the current pandemic.

people who refuse, for whatever reason, to wear masks.

people who continue to gather in groups without practicing any social distancing.

people who keep having backyard barbecues and birthday parties and wedding receptions and family reunions, at which neither masks nor social distancing are implemented.

my social-media feed regularly features photos of otherwise-sensible (i thought) people i know engaged in assorted social activities that fly in the face of common sense and/or personal safety given the current state of the world. why on earth would you go out to eat, indoors, with a big group of people, none of whom is wearing a mask and all of whom are sitting about two feet apart? and THEN post photos of it?!

even during last night's emmy awards, there were instances where nominees were gathered with groups of people and ignoring protocols ON CAMERA.

whenever i go out, i encounter morons who wear their masks incorrectly or not at all. nose sticking out. mouth exposed. mask hanging off one ear and flapping in the breeze while the "wearer" wanders a shop, talking on his/her phone.

and don't get me started on the new blue scourge facing the planet: discarded disposable masks, which have taken the place of discarded nitrile gloves as the de-rigueur COVID waste product littering sidewalks, roads and parking lots.

then, just this weekend, every news outlet in the city covered a massive impromptu car "rally," organized by what appear to be a bunch of twentysomething morons in a movie-theatre parking lot. dozens and dozens and dozens of them defiantly grinned at news cameras, (maskless) faces on full display, and several were even interviewed by reporters about their participation.

their responses? essentially variations on: "who cares, bro? we're young! this is fun, man!"

this when what they were doing is officially AGAINST THE LAW IN THE PROVINCE.

?!

IDIOTS, all of them. and i really hope their brazen displays of self-importance and profound ignorance (i.e., proudly showing themselves on camera) come back to bite them in the ass. i hope they're shamed by their parents, families, employers and whoever else in their lives may be impacted by their foolishness.

cases of COVID-19 are rising by the day in ontario. long gone, apparently, are the days of modest or negligible summertime increases. in a matter of about two weeks, we're back up to where we were at the end of may/start of june. this isn't so much a "second wave" as yet another surge in the *first* wave, which never really receded. 

restrictions are slowly being put back in place and i, for one, say: GOOD.

it's obvious that an alarming number of human beings can't be trusted to think for themselves and make smart decisions. and the longer these ding-dongs keep ignoring the health-and-safety guidelines, the longer we're all going to have to keep following them.

it's immensely frustrating and frightening.

anyway...

tomorrow, i'm getting my hair cut for the first time since october 2019. my guess is that my timing might turn out to be ideal, since haircuts may once again be prohibited very soon if the infection trajectory continues.