D&D and the rising pandemic

[Mirtek]

When the mask mandate was lifted basically everywhere a lot of people in polls claimed that they would just continue to mask while shopping. Early May the groceries chains reported that a "majority" of customers were still masked (51%? 60%? 80%? never specified that vague statement further).

Nowadays it's rare to spot a mask in a full store even at the busiest shopping hours.

That coupled with the overwhelming negative Feedback to any poll about tightening restrictions this autumn and people frolicing by the thousands and tens of thousands at Festivals and everyday activities unmasked and undistanced I'd conclude it's pretty much 9 in 10 to 8 in 10 that are tired with restrictions

At least in Germany. Seeing other european neighbours in the news, it looks pretty much the same.

I think the "everyone is tired of this" attitude is grossly overstated. 1 in 10 people, certainly. 4 out of 5, unlikely. Everybody? Nope.

 

[SakanaSensei]

Japan's probably different to most if the world and had cultural tendencies to wear masks pre Covid.

My theory is most people live in bubbles. Eg "everyone around me does XYZ". XYZ varies by location though.

Bubble living is fine just as long as you're aware of it. My country has been a bigger bubble last two years.

I still think my point stands though that who's masking tells you who's taking things seriously. Anyone who is not wearing a mask and going out into crowded public spaces will either be up front with you and tell you they're over it (oh hey, my family members) or will tell you they're taking it seriously when their actions show you they aren't. It just so happens that culture can have an effect on how many people, in aggregate, tend to take it seriously.

 

[Zardnaar]

I still think my point stands though that who's masking tells you who's taking things seriously. Anyone who is not wearing a mask and going out into crowded public spaces will either be up front with you and tell you they're over it (oh hey, my family members) or will tell you they're taking it seriously when their actions show you they aren't. It just so happens that culture can have an effect on how many people, in aggregate, tend to take it seriously.

True most people don't care about Covid anymore it seems. That feeds into how seriously they take it.

Governmente can ask but there's limits on what they can compel and with Covid you need near 100% buy in otherwise it all falls apart.

Once things fall apart here it was like flicking a switch vaccine passes and most restrictions went out the window.

 

[Horwath]

I still think my point stands though that who's masking tells you who's taking things seriously. Anyone who is not wearing a mask and going out into crowded public spaces will either be up front with you and tell you they're over it (oh hey, my family members) or will tell you they're taking it seriously when their actions show you they aren't. It just so happens that culture can have an effect on how many people, in aggregate, tend to take it seriously.

Without being too political,

We can thank Mr. Putin for everyone not caring about Covid in Europe.

When you have a lunatic attacking a sovereign country relatively closely to you and rattling nuclear sabre, it's hard to worry about disease that has (relatively) low mortality rate.

Add to it the rampaging inflation and lowering of standards because of it, and Covid has become a 3rd tier news.

There are really more pressing things to be thinking about right now.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

My wife does veterinary house calls. Getting people to wear masks in their own homes is getting harder and harder.

Can relate. Even as careful as we are, sometime even WE forget at home. Or while out- Mom forgot hers in the car while we were in a store last week. I didn’t notice because I’m pushing the wheelchair, so couldn’t see her face. She didn’t realize it until we were on the way to the register, at which point she pulled a fresh one from her purse.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Right now, Adrian Belew, Todd Rundgren, and other musical luminaries are embarking on a tour to commemorate the music and legacy of David Bowie. Right now, there are no tour dates scheduled anywhere near me. If/when local dates are announced, I’ll have to give it a hard think and evaluate what the local risk factors are. In all probability, I’ll attend masked if I do go.

Which has been my position for the past couple of years as I passed on several concerts I’d normally have jumped at or taken a road trip to attend. The risk/reward ratio was not right.

I did attend a couple of jewelry conventions, but those are much more sparsely attended than a concert.

 

[Hussar]

Thank you for trying not to juxtapose "so you want me to abstain from things I wanna do, you must want me to totally isolate" which is the relativism that's so common.

Nobody expects you to totally isolate. I'm not telling anyone to totally isolate just because I tell them their trips expose them to greater risk than they want to admit.
/snip

Note there's no middle ground here. That's because all these scenarios with extremes at the ends are really only designed to justify you picking the middle option. That looks reasonable, but that's a fallacy.

Umm, hold's up hand

I live in a country that never locked down. I live in Japan. Where the entire population of most countries rides a train every single day. I now ride the train every week to go to a job. And every single person on that train is wearing a mask. No fuss. No drama. Just wear the damn thing. My classrooms keep the windows open and the fans on and try to keep the students a little distance from each other. Vaccination rates have been... spotty but not too bad.

And despite probably the oldest population on the planet, we still have a lower death and infection rate than virtually anywhere. The idea that there's no middle ground seems kinda messed up. There really is a middle ground, but, it means that people actually have to DO it rather than expecting everyone else to.

 

[SakanaSensei]

Umm, hold's up hand

I live in a country that never locked down. I live in Japan. Where the entire population of most countries rides a train every single day. I now ride the train every week to go to a job. And every single person on that train is wearing a mask. No fuss. No drama. Just wear the damn thing. My classrooms keep the windows open and the fans on and try to keep the students a little distance from each other. Vaccination rates have been... spotty but not too bad.

And despite probably the oldest population on the planet, we still have a lower death and infection rate than virtually anywhere. The idea that there's no middle ground seems kinda messed up. There really is a middle ground, but, it means that people actually have to DO it rather than expecting everyone else to.

Oh hey, fellow immigrant to Japan. I don't know when you got here, but my wife and I arrived in summer 2019. At this point I'm afraid to think about going back to my home country: that culture shock would be so, so much worse than it was the other way around given the past 3 years of e v e r y t h i n g.

 

[Hussar]

Oh hey, fellow immigrant to Japan. I don't know when you got here, but my wife and I arrived in summer 2019. At this point I'm afraid to think about going back to my home country: that culture shock would be so, so much worse than it was the other way around given the past 3 years of e v e r y t h i n g.

Heh. I've been here since 2002. I couldn't imagine going back home now. Even being Canadian, after the events of the past couple of years, I just keep nodding to myself that I'm really glad I've made a home here. I just can't even... there are just no words.

 

[Mirtek]

Without being too political,

We can thank Mr. Putin for everyone not caring about Covid in Europe.

When you have a lunatic attacking a sovereign country relatively closely to you and rattling nuclear sabre, it's hard to worry about disease that has (relatively) low mortality rate.

Add to it the rampaging inflation and lowering of standards because of it, and Covid has become a 3rd tier news.

There are really more pressing things to be thinking about right now.

Don't think so. Care about covid went down to almost zero last summer too and Ukraine is not even top news anymore in Germany. Just a couple of seconds at the end of the daily news like "oh yeah, that's also still going on somewhere east"

People being upset about cancelled flights gets more time than fighting in Ukraine. It already got general public bored and is just background noise.