Go Ahead, Throw the Social Grenade
After a year of the pandemic, I want all the drama I can get
At some point in the last six months, I realized almost every conversation I have is exactly the same. All anyone can talk about anymore is their Covid fatigue, their projected timeline for when and whether this will all end, and how life under shutdowns has caused them to lose their grip on reality. No one ever knows what day it is; everyone has opinions about vaccine efficacy, reopening strategies, and those assholes who went to Tulum in the middle of a pandemic.
I know there’s a logical explanation for this. It’s been a year without parties, packed bars, and the messy interpersonal drama that comes with cramming a bunch of friends, friends of friends, and frenemies into a room. Everyone I know has pared down their social lives; gone are the days of running into acquaintances and catching up with near-strangers.
It feels silly to complain about this given the actual losses people have faced over the last year. I’m not going to pretend that I’ve suffered some huge loss because I’m missing out on gossip — there are obviously bigger problems out there. But I’m also not going to pretend I’m some kind of saint who doesn’t appreciate hearing about the details of other people’s personal lives. If I wanted to try to intellectualize my love…
