Thread by @lizzywol

I'm becoming increasingly annoyed by the "masks are no real imposition" crowd. Yeah, they're a relatively easy & low-cost protective measure, but they take something significant––but hard to measure––away from human interaction. We can't see other people's reactions, we can't

hear their words as well, small talk & the types of little interactions that build trust & friendliness have been largely eradicated. For children, still developing their social skills/ability to read nonverbal cues, this is so much worse.

It's a lonelier world we inhabit now, and I don't think people are wrong to mourn or reject that, especially when we have better tools in our arsenal (vaccines!) to fight COVID spread, and when there seems to be no exit plan for masking (esp things like planes, public transit).

Sorta related, one of my favorite TV shows is "High Maintenance," about a weed dealer who bikes around NYC. The show isn't *really* about weed, it's little vignettes of different people's worlds all over NYC, anchored by their interactions w The Guy, the dealer, who shows immense

empathy/care for his clients despite not having particularly deep relationships w them. It's a testament to how living in a place like NYC is made less alienating by those weak connections, and by the people who make an effort to treat other people w interest, curiosity, dignity

I think something intangible, hard to measure, has been lost, and I'm not happy about it. We should give more people (especially parents of young children!) license to be dissatisfied with it, too, without it meaning or implying that they're an evil anti-mask zealot.