I have noticed a significant increase in general laxity about PPE since COVID masking has been dropped. A significant % of OR staff (esp anesthesia & RTs) not bothering to mask inside actual OR even when sterile fields are open & set up. Nurses inside OR generally much more consistent (they directly handle & set up sterile equipment).

I grew up loving people who were so impacted by residential school that they turned to the numbing effects of alcohol to be able to cope. Everyone knew why, & there was no judgment. Alcohol was a used as a survival strategy. Things I remember hearing ppl say: “Take it easy now bro”
“Better go sleep it off now”
“Take a break for a few days”
“When did you eat last?”
“Come inside for coffee”
“Love you. Now go home & sleep.”

There is a difference between personal responsibility and collective responsibility. The conversation has broken down historically when Canadians get defensive about what has been done to Indigenous people historically in Residential Schools (“that was the past”, etc). However, just as Germany has done a lot of work to collectively own the atrocities of the Nazi era and have pledged to never let it happen again, and make reparations, all of Canada needs to own Indian Residential Schools.

When I see anti-maskers, “freedom rallies”, COVID deniers do their thing, I see people who are living with such a poverty of spirit & connection. They are filling the void with these activities that reinforce their blindness and self justifications. I can only imagine that they are vulnerable to these ideas that COVID isn’t real, or not a serious threat because they lack a proper understanding of science, but it’s more than that too.