the big problem with COVID wasn't the deaths or the actual real failures. The problem was that it interrupted the Treat Drip

This isn't quite right -- you could still have all your food treats (just the takeout versions), besides some delays you still had a wealth of media available, you could absolutely have Thanksgiving or Christmas meals (many people did this with family the same as they always have), sports resumed after a few months, you even had more time to enjoy a lot of these things if you could work from home.

It was more the long-term state of genuine crisis and uncertainty. Everything was up in the air in a way that (like last night's debate) was blatant enough that most people couldn't ignore it.