I know a wonderful woman, M, who manages a machine shop. One of her employees, D, who M has known long enough to think of as a friend, frequently expressed extreme annoyance at M’s insistence that all employees must wear masks while at work. D contracted Covid and got very sick. She survived, but for many weeks after the primary symptoms subsided, she was super weak and unable to concentrate. M asked D why she had not gotten vaccinated and had not worn a mask while out and about in the world. D said she had done her research and was convinced that the Covid “scare” was a hoax, so there was no way that she was gonna catch it.
When I heard this, what especially amazed me was D’s report that she “had done her research.” What “research” could possibly satisfy someone that Covid is a hoax? It turns out the authority D had consulted was Facebook. M is a super smart person, and I’m sure anyone that works in her shop…and especially anyone she regards as a friend…could not be a complete idiot. But Facebook as the authority for how to respond to a pandemic that had already at that time killed more than a million Americans!!!!! I had to wonder, is D out of her f—ing mind? So I also “did my research” and some thoughts that occurred to me follow here.