Gen Z Is Done With the Pandemic

[Celerity]

Though the specter of a new variant hangs over the holidays, young people have no plans to lock themselves down again.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2021/12/omicron-pandemic-fatigue-gen-z/620960/



Taylor Robertson wasn’t expecting his freshman year of college to end at home. The 21-year-old William & Mary junior spent most of 2020 away from his campus after classes went remote in March, and like so many other students, found that the virtual format didn’t work for him. An already-difficult academic year was even more straining because he struggled to retain information from Zoom classes. When he learned that most of his fall 2020 classes would also be online, he decided to take a semester off. What he would do if in-person classes didn’t start up again in the new year was a different, more daunting question.

A year later, Robertson’s classes are entirely in-person. His college has a vaccine and indoor mask mandate, and almost everyone he knows is living a “normal” life. His parents’ house was full for Thanksgiving this year, and he’s gathering with family again this winter at a ski resort. “People don’t want to talk about COVID anymore,” he told me. “It’s just not a thing that people enjoy doing, really. What is there to talk about with it that isn’t just a drag from the rest of the life that we want to be getting on with?”

Robertson echoes a feeling that has permeated the minds and lifestyles of many young people who have missed out on experiences, friendships, and milestones over the past two years of coronavirus disruption. There is a sense of needing to make up for lost time and reclaim a sense of normalcy, even as case counts rise and new variants take root. For these cohorts of Gen Zers and “Z-lennials” (those born roughly from 1993 to 1998), they’re once again learning and working in-person; they’re dining, drinking, and dancing indoors; they’re traveling and celebrating birthdays and holidays; and they don’t have plans to stop anytime soon—Omicron variant be damned.

It’s still too early to determine just how disruptive the Omicron phase of the pandemic will be for most Americans. The Delta variant turned out to be much more transmissible than the original strain and stunted summer celebrations with breakthrough cases and surges in unvaccinated communities, but many of the young people I spoke with for this story told me they aren’t as worried now. Part of that response comes from pandemic fatigue, but much of this feeling is a result of the new risk calculus they have developed for how they want to live their lives. As a member of this generation, I can confirm as much from what I’ve observed among friends.

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[tirebiter]

1. Doesn't work that way, kiddys

[lapfog_1]

2. The virus doesn't have a brain.

They maybe "done with the virus" but the virus is not with us.

and the longer it takes for humanity to come this realization, the longer we will be dealing with Sars-Cov-2.

[Drunken Irishman]

5. There is no alternative.

It's not the vaccinated people living their lives who are to blame. It's the unvaccinated and I'm sorry but at this point, there is no other alternative than moving on. We've been at this nearly two years. How many more years are we expected to stop our lives because some refuse to get the vaccine? Three? Four? Five? Six? The rest of our lives?

Sorry. But I am done with COVID. I am going to live my life. I have already gone to sporting events, bars, movies, concerts and met with family. I will mask up when I am out. I will continue to get any booster that may be needed. But I am not going to spend the next ten years of my life locked in my house because 30% of the country refuses to get vaccinated.

[Drunken Irishman]

3. Sadly, I think a lot of people are.

I take precautions but I am not locking myself in. I've gone to the movies, sporting events, bars and to a concert. I still wear my mask, and people roll their eyes at me, but I don't know what else to do?

[Polybius]

8. Restaurants are the biggest problem

There's no way to eat with a mask on, so that's a major way of catching Covid.

[walkingman]

4. Young people have always had a sense of immortality. That is not reality.

[3Hotdogs]

6. Lookin' at that photo, alls I can say is

I'm glad I ain't a 'ute no more.

[Celerity]

9. over 40 years ago, Norwich (hardly a huge city)

[Drunken Irishman]

10. What's old is new again!

[Celerity]

11. but without the killer punk tunes, lolol

The Violators - Gangland

Label: No Future Records – Oi 9
Format:
Vinyle, 7", Single
Pays: UK
Sortie: 17 avr. 1982
Genre: Rock
Style: Punk, Oi

[Polybius]

7. Fuck 'em

Just stay away from us Xers.