> People who wore [masks or] stayed home, didn’t interact with others in person, and were hyper conscious about germs are going to struggle to fight off this winters standard bugs.

No we're not, because we're still masking up (in public), still social distancing and still being vax'd . People doing none of the above are more likely to get infected; whether its a mild case or otherwise.

Your assertion that exposure makes our bodies more resilient is not untrue. That said, antibody resistance to CV19 will be different than resistance to RSV; or to flu virii, or herpes or any of the litany of other viruses (AOT bacterial) floating around out there.

I guess my assertion is improved resistance to germ A does not imply greater resistance to germ B. And, we're just talking respiratory virii here. And, FWIW, despite repeat exposure to germ A producing improved resistance down the road, you are not the same person down the road; you get older, weaker, .... you change (along w/your immunology).

What you're suggesting is akin to saying hey, I got malaria in SA, but skip the preventions, if I get hit again it won't be so bad. Except it is, and depending on the env, availability of medicine,.... could be much worse.