Over the years, as a xennial lost somewhere between the Gen X and Millennial generations, things are weird around the state. I tell you about the generational thing because the very small window of xennials are those who were both 80's kids and the first generation to really adopt the modern technologies like the internet. We were the early pioneers that came of age right when the computers jumped from DOS commands to Windows, PC gaming, chat rooms, and the place where this story happens, internet forums.

I have been a member of few internet forums for the last twenty-plus years. My domino players forum I joined in 1997, it's still going strong... the other two forums came later after the turn of the century. As I was young and looking for specific information, I found answers and advice in those two forums, which shall remain nameless, because it's 100% Okalhoma based, and not really relevant to the story. As time goes on, like countless people do in gaming, you sort of form bonds with these online strangers. Some move on, others die, but the core always seems to stand true over the years.

As politics have fully engulfed the American way of life, it's not easy overcoming the mob mentality that a forum of like-minded individuals can grow. Early on in the 2020 pandemic, as the president declared coronavirus as a hoax, some people just latched on and wouldn't let go. A rabid hoard of old Baby Boomers just knew covid was a bad cold or flu, and they weren't going to change their way of life for anything. Of course, you have to keep in mind, these were the loudest individuals in the group, probably not the majority of members. The mask and rona arguments were legendary, threads were eventually locked due to the heat, and time just went on.

As we just got used to and deaf to coronavirus reports, people dropped their guard. As it spread from the major population centers out to the rural areas of Oklahoma, a new type of thread started becoming normal. Threads titled like "I Got The China Virus."

Keep in mind, the majority of the most active members on this forum are older dudes. Baby Boomers that have spent the year denying covid as a "libral" hoax. There's still a population of members there that don't agree, but the mob keeps their opinions at bay because POTUS said so. The worlds foremost expert in communicable diseases even became the enemy when he had an opinion different from theirs. Still, the members contracting the virus continues to grow.

One of the funny human things that is coming out of this situation is this... It's well known that most Americans don't care about a cause until it has affected them personally. It might even be a human trait, but I haven't traveled enough to conclude that. Those who have caught covid usually disappear for a week or so. Suddenly, all of these rona deniers temporarily accept covid as legit and hang on every one of these threads praying for good news. Hoping their friends get better. Wishing they'll bounce back no problem, but in the aging population, that bounce back just isn't happening. Granted, there's always at least one huge egotistical member that says he had it "probably" months ago and that it wasn't any big deal. No test or diagnosis to back it up, just you know, ego... Even that dude pours his tiny shriveled heart out for those disappearing from their web activity.

I'll be honest with you, I don't know of a single member that has died from it, that any of us know of, but those who do survive their battle with the Wuhan Flu tend to change their tune when it comes to masks and social distancing. All of a sudden, those cared for members become the enemy of the state because they have a different opinion having experienced it first hand. Slowly but surely, people are waking up to both sides of the misinformation they've been fed by the media.

I haven't experienced covid. I think I did back in February, but there's no way to tell now. I'll just keep my guard up. Even if the survival rate is 99.92% for people like me under the age of 45, it's still something I don't want to experience. I know the media is spending 100% of their broadcasts on .2% of the cases, but a healthy respect for health has never been a bad thing.

Does that mean you can't have a family Thanksgiving? No. By all means, have your family time. Enjoy it. We all need it now more than ever. Just try to be safe and hope your family is doing the same. Eventually, the vaccine will make this a thing of the past and people will still argue whether it was real or not... or everyone with have caught it and know they were wrong. At this point, it's a win/win either way.

More From KZCD-FM