I think, or at least I hope, that the stress is making people unkind. I write "I hope" not because I want
people to be unkind, but because people seem unkinder, and I hope COVID-19 fatigue is the reason,
so that in a few years when this is over, niceness returns. But maybe people have always been mean,
and my perception is off -- or stress from the virus isn't the cause of the current nasty -- or it won't "go
back" and become kinder. I don't know. I have been called a coward (by a resident of my village in a
Facebook comment), told to stop hogging the floor (by a senior colleague in a Zoom private chat
message), that bad Karma would get me (in a Facebook message) and a neighbor is sending
me aggressive texts. All except the Zoom chat were related to my village board seat - which I lost by
two votes on 9/15, after an excruciatingly executive order delayed election. I know many mean things
were said about me behind my back and various untruths were gossiped, but that's politics. It's ugly
even at the local level. I never said an unkind or untrue word about anyone (publicly that is; I certainly didn't hide my assessment of the opponents from close friends or family, LOL), I didn't even ask for a
recount. Everyone of these bullying incidents was direct - to my personal accounts. And the bad Karma
note and the texts are after the election is long over! I made peace with the loss immediately,
and have moved on. Why can't I be left alone?