2.5 years
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a shitshow for a long time now, but my wife and I remained vigilant this whole time. N95 masks, staying socially distant, avoiding gatherings. I have been 100% remote for work for a long time now, so that helped too. My wife took early retirement just before the pandemic, so that was another plus on our side.
We took as few risks as possible. And yet… here we are. We both got sick recently, and sure enough, it was COVID. Part of me was furious (we did everything right!), but mostly I feel frustrated at how society just said "fuck it, yolo" and stopped trying.
We are vaccinated and boosted, so I'm not worried about dying or anything, but long COVID is no joke and too many people are ending up with long term debilitating illness because we happen to live in the dumbest timeline ever. I really hope my wife and I won't be among them.
All the gaslighting and pretending everything is fine when it most assuredly isn't just pisses me off to no end.
I suppose, given the world at large, it was just a matter of time, statistically speaking, but it didn't have to be this way, and that does not sit well at all.
Please, mask up and get vaccinated. If not for yourself, for those around you.
Stay safe.