{"id":5712,"date":"2022-01-25T23:02:49","date_gmt":"2022-01-25T23:02:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/?p=5712"},"modified":"2022-01-26T16:36:40","modified_gmt":"2022-01-26T16:36:40","slug":"covid-19-and-people-who-need-people-another-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/covid-19-and-people-who-need-people-another-year\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID-19 and People Who Need People, Another Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Brian<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Fred<\/a>It’s been a year and a day since I talked about socializing, the pandemic and individual differences.<\/p>\n

“…I can sympathize with folks who really do need people: people who are physically close, not ‘close’ only in a virtual sense. I’m also willing to accept that not everyone is like me. For which we should all be thankful. And that’s another topic.<\/p>\n

“That said, COVID-19 pandemic restrictions haven’t cut into my social life all that much.<\/p>\n

“Before ‘social distancing’ \u2014 a poorly-chosen phrase, and that’s yet another topic \u2014 started becoming a cliche, most of my social life was online….”
\n(“People Who Need People \u2014 and the COVID-19 Pandemic<\/a>” (January 24, 2021))<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Somewhere during the last year, I noticed that I’d been enjoying my research and writing routines less. And had let some projects drop off the back burner.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Pandemic-Prompted Perturbations?<\/h4>\n

\"Left:<\/a>Not unexpectedly, the situation got worse as Christmas approached. That’s always a bad time of year for me.<\/p>\n

“…As my wife once noted, I ‘get weird’ during each Christmas season. That’s not surprising, since something very traumatic happened around Christmas when I was 12. Memories of the incident are lost. Not accessible, at least….”
\n(“The Magi, Meds and Me<\/a>” (January 7, 2018))<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But I think this year’s weirdness has roots in pandemic-prompted perturbations. There, I made that alliterative, and that’s another topic.<\/p>\n

At any rate, at a Mass last summer, I felt a strong urge to start chatting with some folks who were sitting near me. Now, as someone at Walmart said, comparing me and my son; “you always talk, he never talks.” But I seldom feel that eager to strike up a conversation.<\/p>\n

So, despite living near the ‘people who need people’ continuum’s low end, and being generally satisfied with online social interactions; I figure the pandemic’s starting to bug me.<\/p>\n

And, if I’m starting to feel something akin to cabin fever, then folks with more 50th percentile social needs \u2014 well, I can sympathize with them more easily now.<\/p>\n

Although I’d appreciate it if everyone would turn the hysteria down a few notches. It’d be nice if news media and politicos would stop doing what they do with a real health issue, but that’d be like asking for the moon.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Liberal, Conservative, Libertarian: But Not Moderate<\/h4>\n

\"Brian<\/a>Speaking of politics, it’s been a while since I talked about beliefs, politics and me.<\/p>\n

I’m a Catholic and take my faith seriously, so online ‘which side are you on’ polls say I’m a liberal; a conservative or; in one case, a libertarian.<\/p>\n

But not a moderate.<\/p>\n

I think they’re all accurate, as far as they go; since I think human rights and human life matter, and I think subsidiarity makes sense.<\/p>\n

The quiz that pegged me as a libertarian displayed its results on a Nolan Chart, developed by a libertarian activist.1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Since ‘which side’ tests I’ve taken focus on only a few ‘political’ topics, I figure I’m ‘liberal’ on those which ask me if I think employees should be treated like people; and ‘conservative’ when the focus is on whether I think humans are people, no matter their age. And that’s yet another topic.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Glitches, Unexpected Issues: But Other Than That, a Good Day<\/h4>\n

\"Brian<\/a>
\n(“Meet Norbert Nerdly” \u2014 my frustrations, personified. (2015))<\/p>\n

That picture, “Meet Norbert Nerdly<\/a>,” is available as prints and posters (from $6.71) at my Norski’s Shop<\/a> on DeviantArt.com. Okay, self-promotion having been accomplished, a partial explanation for this journal entry.<\/p>\n

I was working on this week’s ‘Saturday’ piece, it’ll be about Marlowe’s Faustus, this morning. Then I experienced a maelstrom of glitches, or technical difficulties, or frustrations.<\/p>\n

Whatever I call them, I called the company that hosts this site. And a good thing, too, since I discovered a number of other issues I’d missed.<\/p>\n

Long story short, the glitches aren’t gone; but I’m pretty sure they won’t affect your experience with A Catholic Citizen in America.<\/p>\n

And the issues I’d missed are now resolved. After only a few hours and two broken telephone connections.<\/p>\n

I may even get that “Faustus” thing finished by Saturday.<\/p>\n

More of how I see life, the universe and making sense:<\/p>\n