I know this is probably a common occurrence for most of you, but we live in a very small town that has literally had 2 COVID cases (within one family) this entire time - and while some people are getting the jab, and lots of people mask up because the stores have made it mandatory, we just don’t see the same level of paranoia here that my family in California sees. A childhood friend emailed me today to wish us a Merry Christmas. We email several times during the year, and they were among the first to get jabbed back when the jab first came out. Her whole email was about their Christmas gatherings where she specifically mentioned who attendeed and was vaxxed and boosted, and yet they spent 5 hours on Christmas Eve traveling back and forth to a testing site so they could be sure they didn’t have COVID before attending a family gathering that consisted of their immediate family bubble WHO ARE ALL VAXXED! I cannot wrap my head around this mentality! Now that we have TV again (after 3 years without) I see what the MSM does - they keep COVID front and center with every newscast - opening with it and going back every 2nd or 3rd story throughout the entire broadcast. But my 97 yr old Mom watches the MSM news in liberal California twice a day and doesn’t buy into any of this! Neither do my sons, my granddaughter’s mother, or my siblings! How is it we are apparently immune to the propaganda but people I grew up with and have known for 60 years are completely brainwashed? It makes no sense to me that educated people believe COVID won’t get you if you take off your mask in a restaurant because it only exists 3’ above the floor - but if you stand up, you have to mask up. And if you go ride your bike down a deserted street, you must wear a mask because COVID will jump out from behind a bush and get you.