D&D and the rising pandemic

[GreyLord]

It depends where you are somewhat. Like, in my local Whole Foods, you still see a lot of masks. I'm going to the theater next week, and the theater still requires proof of vaccination and masking.

I saw more from the Northeast, but there were still a lot of people who weren't wearing them. Better than other places (Some places in California are better TBH, many places are worse), but I wouldn't exactly say most are going out of their way to wear masks from there either. The airports literally had very few wearing any masks at all.

Of course, those who are really truly serious probably are also avoiding certain places and areas (such as air travel), and the areas they go to probably do have a higher prevalence of masks.

For the most part though, even in the Northeast, I saw most not wearing masks unless they had to. Maybe it was just the areas I frequented, but I wore a mask like my life depended on it.

Nobody accosted me for wearing one though, that was good. I wore N94's and KN95's throughout, on retrospect I maybe should have worn the N100 (we call it the Darth Vader mask, though it only covers the lower half of the face, and has air filters).

As I said, with few exceptions, unless forced to, I saw very few wearing masks. I didn't go to many grocery stores though, or movie theaters, so I couldn't tell you on what those look like. Restuarants, tourist attractions, and travel resources (cabs, planes, etc), almost no one wore masks no matter where I was in the US at the time.

NOW, depending on where I was DID seem to determine if the WORKERS were wearing masks. Far more in the Northeast and West Coast were wearing masks than other places. In other locations not even the workers were wearing masks or social distancing.

I'm hoping I didn't get stuff while travelling, but I will have to wait and see. Hopefully I don't (crossing my fingers). It could have been a BIG mistake to travel. I set up my travel plans when Covid-19 cases were going down greatly and spent over 10K on expenses to prepay the way (so was reluctant to give that up). With the new variants hitting the US...it probably wasn't the best idea to follow through with those plans though.

 

[Imaculata]

Everyone has stopped wearing masks in The Netherlands, but I still wear one in public transport and elevators.

Had a random person in the elevator tell me recently that masks contain fiber glass, and that they are very bad for your health. I'm so done with these stupid people! The next one is going to get punched in the face!

 

[Zardnaar]

Mask use here is close to 100% in supermarkets, enterimg restaurants etc.

People mostly following the rules in regards to that vax rate topped out at 95%.

One the street outside though it's fairly hit or miss. Avoiding public events though so no idea in that regard.

Sister and her family got it, wife's cousin and her partner have it, wife's workmate faked a second case to get a week off.

 

[SakanaSensei]

So glad my wife and I came to Japan before COVID. Still pretty much 100% mask use for anything that's not, like, "walking alone outside" with rare exceptions for particularly ornery old dudes. There was never the whole "this is a gross invasion of my personal freedoms" bent and so people have just taken it all in stride. It's certainly made me and my family member with a medical condition more comfortable, y'know, existing.

 

[Ryujin]

I saw more from the Northeast, but there were still a lot of people who weren't wearing them. Better than other places (Some places in California are better TBH, many places are worse), but I wouldn't exactly say most are going out of their way to wear masks from there either. The airports literally had very few wearing any masks at all.

Of course, those who are really truly serious probably are also avoiding certain places and areas (such as air travel), and the areas they go to probably do have a higher prevalence of masks.

For the most part though, even in the Northeast, I saw most not wearing masks unless they had to. Maybe it was just the areas I frequented, but I wore a mask like my life depended on it.

Nobody accosted me for wearing one though, that was good. I wore N94's and KN95's throughout, on retrospect I maybe should have worn the N100 (we call it the Darth Vader mask, though it only covers the lower half of the face, and has air filters).

As I said, with few exceptions, unless forced to, I saw very few wearing masks. I didn't go to many grocery stores though, or movie theaters, so I couldn't tell you on what those look like. Restuarants, tourist attractions, and travel resources (cabs, planes, etc), almost no one wore masks no matter where I was in the US at the time.

NOW, depending on where I was DID seem to determine if the WORKERS were wearing masks. Far more in the Northeast and West Coast were wearing masks than other places. In other locations not even the workers were wearing masks or social distancing.

I'm hoping I didn't get stuff while travelling, but I will have to wait and see. Hopefully I don't (crossing my fingers). It could have been a BIG mistake to travel. I set up my travel plans when Covid-19 cases were going down greatly and spent over 10K on expenses to prepay the way (so was reluctant to give that up). With the new variants hitting the US...it probably wasn't the best idea to follow through with those plans though.

My brother, sister-in-law, and niece took a trip to Disney Florida, a few weeks back. That meant I had to work from home, as I didn't have anyone to spot me in taking care of my mother (stage 4 cancer) that week when I was supposed to go into the office. Of course when they came back, my brother and sister-in-law tested positive, so that was another week that I was without assistance.

 

[Retreater]

I was having a conversation with a guy at work this weekend. He was basically saying, weren't we foolish to have overreacted to COVID, when it's clear it's no worse than a common cold?
And I think we've seen how history will remember it, re-writing the books to show that all of us were stupid because we did what the government said. Doesn't mean that it's right at all - but I think that will be the narrative.

 

[Ryujin]

I was having a conversation with a guy at work this weekend. He was basically saying, weren't we foolish to have overreacted to COVID, when it's clear it's no worse than a common cold?
And I think we've seen how history will remember it, re-writing the books to show that all of us were stupid because we did what the government said. Doesn't mean that it's right at all - but I think that will be the narrative.

That, or they'll report something like, "In some quarters people felt that the majority were foolish for following edicts that made the impact of the pandemic lesser, because they felt that the disease itself wasn't as virulent as a result of those precautions."

 

[payn]

I was having a conversation with a guy at work this weekend. He was basically saying, weren't we foolish to have overreacted to COVID, when it's clear it's no worse than a common cold?
And I think we've seen how history will remember it, re-writing the books to show that all of us were stupid because we did what the government said. Doesn't mean that it's right at all - but I think that will be the narrative.

This stuff always gets used afterwards in the anti-intellectual crowds to "prove" their point. Many things we did were an overreaction but we didnt have the information at the time to make informed decisions. The real problem is tribal politics have overrode our sensibilities. Some folks go overboard one direction or the other. A pandemic takes time to learn and discover so you have to use the tools at your disposal. Where I feel our political leaders really let us down is in their role of mediating between health experts (who will always recommend extreme measures to protect people) and our own personal interests and risk comfort levels (which vary wildly).

 

[Umbran]

I was having a conversation with a guy at work this weekend. He was basically saying, weren't we foolish to have overreacted to COVID, when it's clear it's no worse than a common cold?

The proper answer to that is, "Funny, a million people in the USA alone died of it. Sounds a lot worse than the common cold, to me."

 

[Ryujin]

The proper answer to that is, "Funny, a million people in the USA alone died of it. Sounds a lot worse than the common cold, to me."

Unfortunately the rote resonse to that is, "They died of something else. They just happened to have Covid too."