Pardon me while I turn the thread into my facebook post, since I don't have facebook.
TLDR (you'll need it): Not anti-science, but turning into what I describe as a fatalist.
I moved my family to a place where they knew nobody back in December. For a few weeks, the kids only had each other to play with, and there was lots of grieving for their missed friends and locales. The townhome we rented is in a great location, but no immediate families with kids their ages in the area. School finally starts up (the schools in the area were one of many reasons I wanted to move here), and they were accepted by peers immediately and started making friends quickly. Daughter got invited to birthday parties, and they were even getting playdates set up when boom, no more school/pandemic closure time. So back to only having each other. We put in an offer on a house at roughly the same time, not knowing how bad things were about to get. Ignorance, desperation, I don't know.
Fast forward to this week and we're finally starting the move in process. One day I was there with my son and we thought we'd skateboard the street and I see sooooo many kids playing together. I think, hmm, they can't all be from the same family. This area is a pretty small subdivision and there would be no reason for through traffic. You go into the neighborhood only if you live there, really. Next thing you know a giant gaggle of kids run up to me and start introducing themselves, asking questions, e.t.c. Eventually their parents start walking over and doing the same. If there was no pandemic going on, you'd think I moved into a Norman Rockwell scene with a forest background. Most of the kids were girls, and younger, but then there is a boy my son's age and I just couldn't help it, I let them visit, play. For my son, after all this time cooped up, well, I imagine it was like water to a thirsty man.
As I talked to the parents, I realized I myself have been lonely too, and I was so happy to get all these friendly welcomes and just talk to some friendly adults in person. Adults who know the area, who have kids, e.t.c. I didn't want to offend in any way, so I tried to crack a joke about "so, not quarantining the kids, eh?" The answer was essentially "we don't go anywhere, and they all know each other."
Now, I KNOW that's not a great answer. I KNOW the safest thing I could do is keep my kids cooped up. But having them in their new place watching all the neighborhood kids play in the yards from the windows, well I'm not enough of a Kurtz I guess. I'm a fucking softie. So I confess, I let the son walk off and talk to his new friend (kids make friends so fast). The next day I let the daughter run with the other girls.
I KNOW that's not smart. But I want you all to know that its not political, at least on my part. Its tiredness, its loneliness, its wanting my kids to have some joy in these dark times. And its a fatalism thing. The area I'm in has had 0 deaths so far, that we know. The testing is of course, minimal. But if this thing is so hyper contagious that we're all about to get it anyway (or maybe had it and don't know), at some point I find myself finally giving up, a bit. I don't plan on going to mass gatherings. I don't plan on eating in a restaurant in person. I shaved my head a few weeks back, so I don't care about haircuts. I wear my mask when I shop for groceries or go to Target. But not only do I not want my kids to be lonely, I'm tired of not knowing anyone myself in this place I've been in for six months.
If letting my kids play with the neighborhood kids is going to give it to me, then I'm getting it. If talking outside to my neighbors is going to give it to me, then I am getting it. I'm not anywhere close to ever voting for a Republican, much less a Trump (although as a lefty a lot of Dems don't please me either). But I feel like some here would group me with science deniers/ak-47 protesters.
Confession over.