the stress of the season is real, especially in year 2 of Covid, people are out of their minds at the grocery stores.
I was thinking about this last night—that is, the continued stress of COVID, politics, and Covid–politics—although not in regard to the holidays. Here in the States it seems to me the stress is taking a terrible toll on some relationships. Several months ago, I lost an online female friend over political differences, and I almost lost another, in-person friend, whom I've known for 30 years, over the same thing. Luckily, for once (!) I managed to hold my tongue after she jabbed me a few times—not sure it was intentional or not—about the election. (She knows my political views, but it's a long friendship, so I gave her the benefit of the doubt and swallowed several nasty rejoinders.)
As far as COVID and COVID–politics, my 15-year book club dissolved last month after months of fractious discussions. And my weekly coffee get-togethers with my closest friends haven't been immune, either. We've managed to avoid flat-out conflict, but sometimes the discussions get tense. It's taken some of the joy out of our time together. We try to avoid the topics, but somehow they always come up.
I'm looking forward to watching Let It Be and just escaping life for a bit this weekend.
