Rick says-- I always make small talk whenever I can. Maybe it's the 5 hour energy caffeine talking but it's better than keeping silent in groups of people. One lady behind me at Dollar Store NOT wearing a mask like me-- in a store where all clerks and other customers are masked-- seemed open to small talk so I ventured a hello and a small talk comment about the vax... something like "crazy seeing everyone masked up again eh?"... she nervously smiles... without responding... I venture "vaxxes are no good, you know... they're naming them by greek letters so they don't have to name the country where it comes from"... She responded with an alert "I didn't know that"... "Yeah", I said... like the original one they call alpha is the China virus... the new delta is from Colombia... the latest Mu is from Italy." I laughed. She responded with a nervous laugh but didn't say anything more. Line moved forward. That was it. Exciting report right?

Another bright eyed Walgreens Drugmart employee... an overweight short but friendly woman who conversed with me at length during her smoke break outside the store several months ago... telling me about her son's problem with the vaccination-- rang my sale up... and I ventured... "you didn't get the shot did you?"... "you mean the vaccination?" she said stupidly... since Walgreens employees wear t-shirts saying "our best shot" referring to the vax... "the vax is graphene oxide injection-- it resonates with the 5G antennas" I added... "I'm not going to talk about it" she flattened our exhange with a hammer... "Oh!" I laughed "taboo now eh?", referring to our previous friendly chat on the matter. She ventured a mocking "okayyyyy", with that extension on that word-- implying sarcasm, like I'M the crazy conspiracy theorist. "I know it sounds crazy", I ended, "but check it out". and left with a smile.

I'm reminded of Orwell's 1984 scene where a couple have to communicate by whispering and staying off camera... out of site of the authorities who listen everywhere. We're there now. Corporations think they can impose any rule they want without reference to the Constitution... or any mores related to generally understood freedom.  Lately, I'm watching for ANY opportunity to talk to anyone like I'm used to doing-- and in general... it's all going sideways and down... even the manager at Guitar Center and the Human "resources" people I emailed have stopped answering me.  It brings to mind what we here in America and Canada thought about the USSR before Yeltsin and Gorbachev in 1989.