<
https://whn.global/stuck-in-the-middle-with-masking-playing-the-long-game-in-a-short-sighted-age/>
"“Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right…”
That line plays in my head more often than it should—especially when I’m the
only one walking into a conference ballroom, faculty meeting, or classroom
wearing an N95. The song is
Stuck in the Middle with You, and it wasn’t
written for this moment, but it might as well have been.
In the early days of the pandemic, I watched the world split into camps: those
doubling down on denial, and those doubling up on precautions. And me? I didn’t
quite fit anywhere. I wasn’t always this way. Not a rule follower. Not a
germaphobe. Not some sanctimonious voice of moral purity. But now, I’m the
masked one in the room—still—and I’m fine with that.
What changed wasn’t me.
It wasn’t my identity either.
What changed was the world around me—the salience of group identities when
powerful figures told everyone it was “safe” to take off the masks and pretend
the virus had become mild.
My identity as a healthy person had always been there—rooted in avoiding
illness and protecting long-term well-being. But as the pandemic dragged on,
that identity expanded, engulfing a broader view of what true health meant:
seeing the bigger picture, understanding cumulative risk, and recognizing that
preserving function over time is the real win.
While the pull of socializing and celebration swept most people I knew into
dangerous waters, I found myself drawn deeper into the research—following the
mounting evidence of the cumulative, long-term effects of repeated SARS-CoV-2
infection.
I wasn’t changing. I was seeing more clearly than ever."
Via Violet Blue’s
Threat Model - Covid: May 1, 2025
https://www.patreon.com/posts/covid-may-1-2025-127880470
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
