I am naturally mindful of the dangers of the Delta variant, but it is also my firm belief that Delta Covid infections are mostly (almost entirely) an anti-vax bumblefuck problem. If you haven’t been vaccinated for reasons of stupidity, you’re vulnerable. Perhaps you or someone in your family will become sick or worse, God forbid. Life is choices and actions have consequences, and there’s just no basis for feeling any sort of sympathy for people who have refused the vaccine. They had a chance to protect themselves, and they blew it off.
I’ve no doubt that with all the safety protocols in place at the 2021 Telluride Film Festival, everything will be more or less cool. And within the bounds of reason and appropriate caution, I’m not sweating day-to-day life in West Hollywood either. When will this nightmare end? God knows. Were it not for the idiots (rural and urban refuseniks) the pandemic could have been over and done with by now.
Anyway, earlier today I happened to re-read a 3.23.20 post called “Introducing the Virusbro.” 17 months ago, give or take. The term “virusbro” came from HE commenter Manwe Sulimo.
“As far as I can assess there are five modes of COVID-19 behavior,” I wrote.
“First are the oblivious assholes who wander all over, take few precautions, don’t wash their hands much, behave as if nothing’s really changed, etc. These people are public enemies.
“Next in line are your casual responders — people who are mindful of the pandemic but are somewhat careless or sloppy-minded…taking walks, talking to friends on the street (I saw a few yesterday and the day before), washing their hands once or twice a day if that, willing to alter their behavior but not that much.
“Then there are your caution freaks who nonetheless yearn to taste a spoonful or two of the life they used to live — people like myself who wash their hands obsessively, never go outside for supplies (local market, CVS) without a face mask and plastic gloves, never stand less than three or four feet from anyone, who wash their hands when they get home and then again for good measure, and who occasionally indulge in modest rumblehogging.” [This was HE’s mode of behavior.]
“Fourth are your strict shut-ins who haven’t left their homes over the last 10 or 12 days due to the usual fears and who order all necessities online — the ideal citizen in this time of nightmare crisis. Tatyana freely admits to being this kind of conservative.
“Last and fifth is your semi-paranoid Howard Hughes-style germaphobe who pads around the house with plastic bags around his/her feet, washes hands frequently (which is good) and constantly wipes down kitchen counters and coffee tables (which is good) and who, when online, shrieks and scolds the fuck out of anyone who admits to careful shopping and taking an occasional breath of fresh air by lowering their face mask while standing on a patch of grass near a parking lot. Or while driving inside a car with all the windows closed.
“People who qualify as category five types shall henceforth be known as “virusbros” — the COVID-19 alarmist cousins of Berniebros who are technically in the right (Bernie Sanders‘ assessment of our social ills being the most frank and accurate of all the present and former candidates) but who harass and belittle and piss people off.
Virusbros have been proliferating on HE — people like SlashMC, Vendon Fleece and Lazarus Jones, to name but three.
