Socializing (with some trepidation)
Jun. 6th, 2023 08:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kathleen_daileyFor the first time since the pandemic started, I attended an indoor social gathering of more than four people.
A close friend was hosting a life celebration for her recently deceased father (who was also a good friend), and I very much wanted to be there. So I braved up, masked up, and TTCed up to a location north of Bloor Street--not far north, just south of St. Clair, but still outside my normal grazing/shopping/walking area.
The good: I saw people whom I hadn't seen in ages, and I caught up on their activities, trips, and family events. There was stimulating conversation and a stunning buffet, and endless amounts of my friend's dad's favourite wine.
The less good: Out of maybe 30 or 40 people in attendance (age range from 30+ to 70+), I was the only one who was masked. A number of physicians and other medical professionals were among the guests, along with several people who were, I knew for certain, immunocompromised in one way or another. I was fairly sure that most if not all of the guests were fully vaxxed and boosted, but still. Anyway, I took off my mask for the purposes of eating and drinking and talking, and I left it off until the party was over.
I spent the next X number of days waiting for plague symptoms to appear. Thankfully, there were none, and repeated tests showed no Covid. But I was on edge for a couple of weeks. In most public settings these days, I'm the only one, or almost the only one, who's still wearing a mask. I wish I could decide whether to feel prudent or paranoid.
A close friend was hosting a life celebration for her recently deceased father (who was also a good friend), and I very much wanted to be there. So I braved up, masked up, and TTCed up to a location north of Bloor Street--not far north, just south of St. Clair, but still outside my normal grazing/shopping/walking area.
The good: I saw people whom I hadn't seen in ages, and I caught up on their activities, trips, and family events. There was stimulating conversation and a stunning buffet, and endless amounts of my friend's dad's favourite wine.
The less good: Out of maybe 30 or 40 people in attendance (age range from 30+ to 70+), I was the only one who was masked. A number of physicians and other medical professionals were among the guests, along with several people who were, I knew for certain, immunocompromised in one way or another. I was fairly sure that most if not all of the guests were fully vaxxed and boosted, but still. Anyway, I took off my mask for the purposes of eating and drinking and talking, and I left it off until the party was over.
I spent the next X number of days waiting for plague symptoms to appear. Thankfully, there were none, and repeated tests showed no Covid. But I was on edge for a couple of weeks. In most public settings these days, I'm the only one, or almost the only one, who's still wearing a mask. I wish I could decide whether to feel prudent or paranoid.
