One year into the pandemic, and some people seem at home with the virus

 A few takeaways from the ongoing corona era:

• One still forgets to wear a mask sometimes. Despite becoming used to it as part of one's apparel, it's only after you step out and see other masked faces that you realize yours feels strangely different, too open. Of course, many people seem to consider it an adornment for their chin where it stays permanently (some even use it as blindfolds or eye masks to doze off) or don't wear it at all, confident that the virus wouldn't dare approach them, or basking in the relief that they have contracted it and recovered already, I can't tell which. Maybe it is our inexperience in dealing with such a pandemic that makes us complacent and ill-prepared.
  
• "Normal" daily life presents a stark contrast to news bulletins and the realities of afflicted people inside homes and hospitals. Public transportation is as crowded as ever, people are out on the streets in droves, and travelling, if only for that perfect picture, is back in fashion again. Festivals are celebrated, elections take place, weddings still in full swing, though some do opt for live streaming and lesser guests. Politics seems most unaffected, in a sense.
  
• Having become used to seeing only pairs of eyes (on the thankfully properly masked faces that still exist), getting occasional glimpses of their entire face can be startling - but that's not how you imagined the rest of their face to be! Much like reading, our brains tend to try and complete the picture of its own accord and this realization dawns only at such unexpected moments.

 

...This is by no means a definitive list, and shall be expanded as and when epiphany strikes.