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Seeing Change

My former co-worker L called me today out of the blue. It's been over five years since we worked together and over a year since we last spoke. The pandemic was in its early days back then. I was surprised to learn that she had chosen not to vaccinate herself and believed that in America this was all over anyway. She said she does not watch the news so had no idea things were so dire in India. This is a woman with an MBA from one of the top schools in the country and by her own admission has been a straight A student her whole life. I had a very hard time processing the words that were coming out of her mouth. We talked about other things that are top of mind for people these days - based on news she cannot possibly avoid. 

L seemed utterly disinterested in thinking beyond whatever headline grabbed her attention. She said she was done with this whole pandemic thing and all other things that people were getting so over-worked about lately. Maybe it was time to step on the brakes and slow down a tad. I knew this person as well as one knows a co-worker. She came across fairly mainstream back in the day. Something has clearly fallen of the rails since then. I am not sure, how much of a communication I can continue to have with her. I tried to find something to grab on to that would be reminiscent of the person I knew her to be, but could not succeed. The whole conversation left me bewildered. What might have transpired in this past year that could result in such a dramatic change in a person. 

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