Get the Party Started

For the second time in as many nights, we’re all set up and ready to play at a party. I haven’t fully decided which guitar to use - the blue one is new and I’m still finding my way around it, whilst the red one I built/modified and know well. Probably depends on what songs we end up playing tonight and I may yet chop and change during the set.
Despite all the doom and gloom warnings we have seen in the media recently, regarding the wisdom of holding parties (and if you do decide to go ahead, all the measures you could implement to “stay safe”), I’m afraid to say that out here in the real world people are continuing to mingle, hug, dance, sing and all the other things you do at parties. Masks are just not worn and I would suspect that no one has been asked to do a lateral flow test before attending.
Should these parties have been cancelled? If you believe the scare stories as to how many deaths will result from this Omicron variant, then it would seem foolish even to set foot outside your house, never mind go to a party! But we’ve heard these scare stories before and things never turned out as bad as predicted. My impression is that the general public - as opposed to the chattering classes who dominate the media - have just decided to get on with things and enjoy themselves while they can, regardless of any perceived risk. I am sure I’m not alone in thinking that as soon as Christmas is over, we’ll be put back in lockdown for a while whilst this variant is dealt with. Maybe that will become the yearly norm - do what you like from April to December and then lockdown over winter? I sincerely hope not, otherwise we will never learn to live with this virus.
But is it really right to fiddle (or play bass guitar!) whilst Rome burns? I honestly don’t know. The government has lost all credibility as regards telling us what we can and can’t do, so maybe the only answer is to carry on regardless, taking whatever individual measures you feel are appropriate to protect yourself and your family.