It Is OK to Go Live Your Vaccinated Life

You’ve done the right thing. Enjoy the spoils.

Back in the midst of the surge in Covid cases in December and January, I ran into a friend of mine out at a restaurant. This struck me as a surprise. There was an inherent risk of eating outside back in December and January, with cases surging nationwide. I felt comfortable taking that risk: I sat outside, I wore a mask, the restaurant did a great job of keeping the tables distanced. I felt the mental health benefit being out in public, and trying to hang on to some semblance of normalcy in a time of extreme upheaval, was well worth it. And I wrote about why. What was fascinating and surprising about running into my friend was that she had been outspoken, wildly outspoken, on Facebook about how foolish people were being for trying to do normal things in a pandemic, how ashamed she was of people who couldn’t just stay home to do their part, how enraged she was by all of it. And yet here she was, out at the same restaurant as me, right in the teeth of the pandemic.

“I’m surprised to see you here,” I said, trying not to pry.

“Oh, that’s just Facebook,” she said, clearly getting at what I was trying not to ask. She then went back to her meal, and I went back to mine.