What's crazy to me is that there are people who legitimately think that the virus is a hoax, despite the undeniable evidence of cases and deaths. But I think another part of the problem is just that people are fed up with the 'new' normal. That's definitely the sentiment I seem to be getting in CT at least. For the most part, people are aware of the virus and do wear masks, particularly in closed spaces. But, walking around, there's always someone either just holding their mask in their hand, wearing it on their chin or having it hang from their ear. I understand that CT is supposed to be a low incident area, but that doesn't mean there aren't still cases. Those who are asymptomatic most likely will not know that they have COVID, but are still able to transmit the virus to someone who may have a more severe, visceral response. There's actually been an outbreak in Danbury, CT of 178 new cases. So despite all the precautions people are taking with reopening, I'm still skeptical and frankly quite scared.

Yes, I have participated in a safe space discussion, though in a classroom setting. The aim was really to get us to talk more, since our class was not the most eager to participate in discussion, so already it was different to discussions elsewhere as it felt more artificial than natural. However, I found that specifying and defining the discussion as a safe space also emphasized the divisions between people in the classroom, making free discussion harder than ever. If anything, it felt as if one was walking on eggshells when deciding what to say or rather, what not to say, (though this feeling could also be attributed to the fact that none of us knew each other enough to trust one another). As Helena points out above, you end up filtering out more and more of what you truly believe, which rather defeats the purpose of having a safe space.