a tale of two covids

I’m living in Phoenix right now where covid is Officially Over. It’s strange to explain to my San Francisco friends. When I tell them no one I know takes covid precautions anymore, since we’re vaccinated, they say You don’t wear masks, but you’re probably keeping a wide berth from people, right? That seems safe, or,You mean you don’t wear masks outdoors but you wear them indoors?

Nope, I mean nobody wears masks outdoors, nobody wears masks indoors, and every venue is popping. I went to a birthday party in a bar last week, there were 50 people all squished together; zero masks. I go to the rock climbing gym, not a single mask. One older woman walks in and apologizes to the first employee she sees, I feel so weird in here without a mask, but I’m vaccinated, you know, what do you think I should do?The employee laughs, No need to wear a mask if you’re vaccinated! Enjoy!, he waves her off.

Meanwhile, I come back to the Bay to visit and Fear of Covid permeates the air. The fear might be a healthy response to a deadly virus, except that the fear still seems to permeate from fully vaccinated people. My friend comes over, he goes to give me a hug, mask still on. Are you vaccinated? I ask. He’s vaccinated, he just didn’t want to make me feel uncomfortable. I tell him to take off his mask and give me a real hug.

How SF feels vs. how Phoenix feels
Sources: Blake Kathryn and Bruce Pennington