Most no longer make eye contact. Or shake hands. I can't tell whether someone is genuinely smiling or laughing. Voices are muffled. They're a distraction.
I miss face to face conversations with strangers. I miss talking fast, getting excited, and not having my glasses fog up because I apparently breath fast when excited.
There's an element of humanity that's simply been lost.
EDIT: This isn't a response to what is the appropriate trade-offs for lives lost.
It's specifically a response to the idea that "nothing" is lost when wearing a mask.
I do my part and wear a mask in public but I can't wait to stop breathing so much re-circulated CO2... I can practically feel my blood-oxygen levels dropping after prolonged use (perceived or actual)...
I expect that the pandemic will follow Bill Gates's prediction—the developed world will be back to "normal" sometime near the end of 2021. For at least a decade, I expect it to be socially acceptable to wear a mask. However, I think that we'll be comfortable going to concerts and grocery shopping with no social distancing or masks long before then.
Most no longer make eye contact. Or shake hands. I can't tell whether someone is genuinely smiling or laughing. Voices are muffled. They're a distraction.
I miss face to face conversations with strangers. I miss talking fast, getting excited, and not having my glasses fog up because I apparently breath fast when excited.
There's an element of humanity that's simply been lost.
EDIT: This isn't a response to what is the appropriate trade-offs for lives lost.
It's specifically a response to the idea that "nothing" is lost when wearing a mask.