I went to a sort of barn and experienced mental conflict
Good news: I just won a Pulitzer Prize for that headline. Wait, hold on it's a Pulitzer Prize for SUCKING? I just... why do they even give out that prize?
Careful, there are great clouds of ambiguity out there
My daughter is graduating from high school so there are a lot of milestone events going on lately and many of them are being held, very cautiously and apprehensively and often with some element of the outdoors. Ramsey County, Minnesota, where I live is above the 70% vaccinated rate for adults and the weather has been nice so we get to go out and observe trauma.
Not like car accident trauma or anything bloody and readily apparent like that but I saw some last night anyway. We were at this kind of indoor/outdoor facility. Big barn-like building with huge panels on the side that can open up and make it feel more like a pavilion than a building. And it was a dinner kind of thing where people were getting up and making speeches. So: whither masks?
So here were the issues present:
The space started as a massive breezeway with both sides open, so kind of outdoors? We’ve been told by the CDC that we vaccinated people can be outside sans masks. But…
Midway through the program, one panel was closed, the other left open. Not clearly outdoor or indoor at that point.
There was food. It was a dinner thing, individual boxed meals. And when you’re eating, you can have your masks off. But…
The food was there while the evening program went on; you could pick at it. Masks up except while eating? And is eating defined as JUST the time you actually masticate and swallow or the duration between first and last bite?
People getting up to speak mostly removed their masks but were unsure whether to wear them up to the lectern. One person kept his mask over his chin while speaking, returning it to the standard position soon after. Like a cloth Abe Lincoln beard.
As for me, I generally defaulted to mask on, despite knowing factually that every person at my table was vaccinated and we were next to the open panel the whole while. And a big part of keeping them on is politeness and a demonstration that I’m down with public safety even at the expense of logic.
The other reason I wore it, however, was because I’m messed up in the head from 14+ months of covid terror. I don’t like the idea of being unmasked around strangers. It feels dangerous and unclean. It’s not dangerous, I know that, because I can’t infect others or be infected by others. It may be unclean but that’s a relative term and it’s no more unclean than pre-covid life in public. But it’s trauma and I’m messed up.
That will fade but the illogical anxiety is going to be with us for a while.
We got Fritos.
Useful callback
When discussing mask protocols or other complicated issues with my kids, I sometimes mumble, “I’m just a caveman.”
And if you’re of a certain age, you know I’m talking about Keyrock.
And then I’ll continue on along the lines of “I fell in some ice and later got thawed out by your scientists. Your world frightens and confuses me. Sometimes the honking horns of your traffic make me want to get out of my BMW and run off into the hills or whatever.”
Here. You might want this:
I can’t believe “or whatever” doesn’t get a laugh in that video. It’s crucial!
Children’s Hospital Colorado declares a mental health emergency
This article sheds light on an issue that shouldn’t surprise anyone who’s been paying attention.
"Despite things getting better in terms of COVID, kids have dealt with chronic stress for the past year that has interrupted their development," Glover said. "Now kids are asked to be starting back into life again, they don't have the resources to do that, they're burnt out and they feel so behind they don't know how to catch up."
Glover said these feelings contribute to a sense of hopelessness, which is one predictor of suicidal ideation. She said she doesn't see this going away in the next year.
Naomi Osaka won’t talk to press at French Open
You might have already seen this but the number 2 ranked player in the world is just going to take the fine and not talk to the press.
I’ve always had the impression that the ridiculous amount of pressure baked into tennis at the highest level must surely test the limits of anyone. Certainly, we’ve seen plenty of top level players just get broken down by it over the years and the mental strain has clearly shortened some careers.
Anecdotally, I’ve heard that golf and tennis are harder on the psyche than team sports because it’s just the one person out there, succeeding or failing in front of everyone. To go through that knowing that you’ll be picked apart afterwards has huge potential to mess up athletic performance. I’d love to see Osaka vs. Serena with neither of them worrying about the post-game dissection. That would be better tennis.
I don’t think reporters are the enemy. A free press is a good idea. But a reporter can write a perfectly good story without what are usually cautious answers from an athlete.
Not really related, here’s a trailer for a very funny movie that a lot of people missed:
LGBTQ survey shows paints a pretty bleak picture
The Trevor Project has released the 2021 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health. Nearly 35,000 responded.
42% of respondents seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, including more than half of transgender and nonbinary youth. An overwhelming majority of LGBTQ youth also reported recent symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder or major depressive disorder, yet nearly half of respondents reported wanting mental health care in the past year but were not able to get it.
Covid is not the only thing making conditions like this happen but it’s in there.
This study reveals that more than 80% of LGBTQ youth stated that COVID-19 made their living situation more stressful, and only 1 in 3 youth found their home to be LGBTQ-affirming. Further, nearly 40% of LGBTQ youth who had a job reported that they lost it during the pandemic. And 30% of LGBTQ youth reported having trouble affording enough food in the past month, including half of all Native/Indigenous LGBTQ youth and more than 1 in 3 Black and Latinx LGBTQ youth. Historically, both unemployment and food insecurity have been consistent risk factors for suicide.
Next week…
New episode dropping on Monday with Allison Raskin, YouTube star and someone who has been dealing with OCD for a long time. A lot of good information on what life is like with that disorder and what the disorder did when Allison’s engagement was suddenly broken off.