All things COVID-19

[Phoebe]

I'm trying not to judge people.
I'm trying not to judge people.
I have done some of the stupidest things I've ever done in my life in just the last few months.
So I have no business judging anyone for being stupid.
But oh my are people insisting on being stupid.

[Tahlvin]

[Mike]

[Tahlvin]

It's not like it was that difficult. Use a #5 guard and buzz the entire head, then the wedge guards around the ears, then the smaller trimmer around the edges to clean up.

[Phoebe]

I'm not going to pretend I'm not disappointed. But it is what it is. I guess you had reasons. At least you don't have shin splints coming back, so you've got that going for you even if you lost your hair.

[Mike]

The government is constantly making laws based on the best recommendations of health and safety experts.

So if you are dead-set on protesting masks, then make sure you're consistent...
Start protesting speed limits.
Protest having to put your baby in a safety seat.
Take to the streets because you're not allowed to smoke in movie theaters and nursing homes and other shared spaces.
And hundreds of other laws.

Because the consensus of the health and safety experts is that...
Speed limits save lives.
Baby seats save lives.
Cutting out secondhand smoke saves lives.
And masks during a pandemic save lives.

Honestly, of all the CDC recommendations for protecting our citizens during this pandemic, having to wear a mask is the absolute LEAST of them. It is the easiest to do with the least personal inconvenience. So when you protest your mask, you're saying you're not willing to do the bare minimum required to help protect people and save lives.

[And P.S. The mask thing isn't even a law in most places. You're protesting expert recommendation and the choices of privately owned businesses.]

[poorpete]

I compare it to people who refused to wear seat belts. It's not as big an issue anymore, because of the fact they save lives is irrefutable, and how it's a learned habit / second nature for most now. But for decades, a large percentage refused, simply because of "freedom". Decades!


(now almost 90% use their seat belts)

[Mike]

That's way too long.

Ultimately, I couldn't get those thoughts out of my head, so this was basically just a draft for the best possible Facebook post I could have made that still wouldn't have made any difference.

[Phoebe]

Good news from the "talking to other people" front: The MAGA kingdom is suffering a serious fissure on this matter. Some of its ladies and older people wish to stay safe and wear masks and socially distance, even as others are sure it is time to cast aside this guidance (or never followed it in the first place). A group that both operates and prides itself on being fact-free and not listening to experts is now roiled with confusion about conflicting messages. In short, it is the first opportunity I've seen in a long time to welcome some people back to the warm embrace of truthfulness and accuracy.

[akiva]

It's pretty fucked up to see that many of the people who think it's okay for a baker to refuse to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple are up in arms (sometimes literally to the point of killing people) when a business requires them to wear masks.

[poorpete]

Incompetence, politicization, exceptionalism, boredom. Glad some in the kingdom has seen beyond this.

I think in late august we should have a two week national quarantine. We can call it a "national staycation'. Benefits would be enormous and the detriments would be priced-in. AKA, our economy doesn't suffer because so few people go out on Christmas, because it's all expected. If we said: in three months for two weeks, you stay home, and only go out in emergencies or for unexpected issues, government and businesses and people will plan ahead. TV networks and studios and musicians could plan nightly entertainment. Paid time off would be essential. Essential workers during those two weeks could be narrowed to those who have antibodies. There will be no mad rush like before and it'll normalize these disruptions, which will happen again. Afterwards, sports could return, and schools and colleges will have more confident openings too.

If there's a lot of covid in your area, afterwords there will be less
If there's not a lot of covid in your area, afterwords there will be less
If there's no covid in your area, or none nationally or worldwide, great news, it's a celebration!

[DMDarcs]

[Phoebe]

The lockdowns were in theory supposed to achieve what Pete describes above. If people don't do it then it doesn't work and the economic hit was for nothing. I am not sure that message is getting through (or can get through) unless we had political unity in delivering it. If Trump said it was needed, these MAGA people would do better at it. Some just will not, the same guy who has a pissing Calvin on the back of his truck that is tailgating people, but we can't fix what is wrong there and his ability to infect people will be strictly limited.

[Phoebe]

Honestly of everyone I know, except maybe my kid, I am happy being quarantined. Like, significantly happier than normal life except for one huge thing: I miss my parents enormously. If I could visit them in a more engaged manner, I would be content to live like this a long, long time. I'm just too scared to expose them to anything, and the frustrating thing is that if my husband didn't have to work in person, or could just take a damn break from it for a few weeks, we could arrange to have visiting with the kids and my parents in person because we would all be past that incubation period. But we can't make it that long it seems, without at least some minor form of exposure.

[Eliahad]

[FlameBlade]

First weekend of phase 1 reopening. And what do people do? Crowd out Annapolis. June 1st is going to suck in MD. Memorial Day weekend with people swarming Ocean City? I hear hotels sold out. June 10th is going to suck as well.

[Stan]

[akiva]

[Phoebe]

I cannot even imagine these things you're describing, and I've seen pictures and I know this is going on, but I can not fathom that it is real. What the hell people?

Humor: I go to the store early this morning. They are having some kind of sidewalk sale with things arrayed up and down, which in theory should help people to stay distant from one another in the nice breezy outdoors. About 10% of people have a mask on, and about 20% are making some effort to stay several feet away from each other. Everyone else is acting normally, milling around right next to one another and showing no indication that anything unusual is happening right now. My jaw has to be picked up and put back onto my skull.

Meanwhile, since I don't want to go anywhere near that building, I drive up to the designated spot, put on my mask, and wait for the guy to come out with my groceries. When I see him coming I hop out of the car and open up all the doors so he can see where the things go. He has his own little mask on, and works on one side of the car while I stand on the other. These guys are awesome and efficient, and they almost always do a great job of shopping for me even though I'm picky. We always have agreeable conversations from our distant poles. On the way out I observe that people are still just milling around, mask free, no effort to be distanced, for all the world like it was October 2019.

I go home and clean off the car and everything they have put in it; I quickly stash my perishables and then go out to make deliveries to the old people who should not be going to the store even in this limited way. I lay all the things out and make sure they have been disinfected fully. I take a deep breath in my mask as I am walking things over to the door, then hold my breath until they're down and I'm out of range and can exhale safely. We wave goodbye, from doorway to driveway. That is as close as they need to come to me, the possible vector of death. And I think to myself, half the people in that grocery store must think I am crazy for doing this, yet I think they're crazy for rolling around the grocery store without trying to separate themselves from each other. Indeed, if I lived alone I wouldn't even be going to the grocery store, because I would still be eating my stash of garbanzo beans and frozen vegetables. I make concessions to living with other people who have more varied and particular desires for food.

[Tahlvin]

What can one say about Ben Sasse's high school graduation commencement speach? No, really, what can one say about it? Those of you from Nebraska...?