It’s not a matter of what they “say”. It’s very obvious and has been mentioned over and over again in the papers and on the news. There was a clear statement made by the mass protest gatherings and the lack of outrage about the public health implications. Suddenly, all the things we were told we couldn’t do were OK! Sure- young people were “out of school” and ready for summer and were going to get together after a couple of months of isolation. A lot of things contributed. But- if you don’t think the tolerance of all the protest crowds contributed, you are being extremely blind.
I wear my mask when I’m in a building with others. I don’t go to bars. My social circle is extremely limited. I do what I can to protect myself and those around me. I have chosen to take some risks- such as travel. I’m not going to bubble wrap myself in my backyard. I wish the whole country would follow the guidelines that would be most helpful to protect others, but they won’t. We can do as much hand-wringing as we want on social media and pat ourselves on the back at how good we are at following the “rules”, but everyone takes their chances. I have a family member who is quite medically knowledgeable and is really afraid of this virus. Her husband is more at risk. She does everything “right”. BUT- she wants her son to come visit for the long weekend next weekend even though he is in the workplace and has already gotten sick once a couple of weeks ago (tested negative). She can rationalize how that is OK. It’s what everyone is doing- doing what works for you and then explaining how it is OK.
My wife and I were rear ended about a month ago. It ended up being a three car accident and just afterwards another two vehicles collided on the other side of the road. Two police, a couple fire trucks and three ambulance crews responded. There was minimal mask usage. The only masks I saw were on a small.oercentage of the fire personnel and ambulance crews. The police officers were not masked, were close to all of us as they were handling the situation and were passing ID/insurance cards around as well as other paperwork and pens.
Don’t tell me you think it’s obvious that the protests caused people to abandon social distancing when they otherwise wouldn’t have done so. And don’t tell me I’m blind. If you want me to open up my eyes, put evidence in front of them, other than your vigorous assertions. Were people avoiding mass gatherings on Memorial Day? Did bars suddenly fill up three days later?
I’m saying the relaxing of social distancing was already happening before the protests, and indeed many people here were remarking on it.
“It’s what everyone is doing- doing what works for you and then explaining how it is OK.” Yes! And people are reaching for the convenient figleaf of the protests to justify what they were always going to do. Would your relative NOT have had her son come visit, were it not for the protests? It’s summer, she wants to see her son, and she comes up with some justification or other for what she wants to do.
My husband, who drives like a jerk, has been pulled over twice in the past week or so and none of the cops (one in one car and two in another) were masked. I made him sanitize his id when he got it back and his hands after putting the other documents back in the glove box. He didn’t get any tickets but I wish he wouldn’t do things that brought cops close to him.
It was an interesting observation/situation. I would have thought the authority figures would have masked up in this situation. Honestly, none of us involved in the crash masked up either. Our main concern was for everyone else that was involved. In the end that concern over each other’s potential injuries was a good moment for humanity. No one got upset about their poor cars.
Since we have the highest number of daily cases today, again, we’re not looking at any improvement over baseline. The Vice President said we’d flattened the curve. That was not true.
I hate to mention this but earlier on this very forum, there was a lot of complaints about why can people protest but why can’t I (fill in the blank) (go to a graduation, meet with my family, go to a wedding, go to a funeral).
I remember it because I pleaded with this very group not to post that in a public forum. That it was a bad look and to not equate protesting with personal life events. I was loudly criticized for this opinion. I didn’t understand.
But now you are critical of the poster who pointed out that the protests gave certain people and groups the “permission” to gather again. And you protest, no that’s not the case. It was the case on this very forum.
Radiolab did a really interesting podcast about the six feet back in April. After listening to it, I decided that six feet is a pretty bogus number. I’m okay with six feet with masks on and have certainly gotten closer than that for short consults with clients, but without masks I prefer 10 to 20 feet. Since I always have a mask with me, I can at least put on my mask if the other person doesn’t.
Looking at the photos in the CNN links. Nearly everyone at the protests were wearing masks properly. The handful that weren’t had them on their chins. I think the protests make well cause some extra cases, but I am cautiously optimistic because they were outside and most people are wearing masks. Nothing like the photos of people at the beach bars.
And as I posted on here yesterday about how my mil and fil are tired of SIP recommendations. That they broke their resolve to not go to a restaurant. And went to a family gathering 2 days in a row, once in a restaurant and once at a family members house.
Why? Because their granddaughter had a birthday and is moving to the west coast. They were sad, they may never see this granddaughter again in their lifetimes. They have a special relationship.
This people is what is happening. People all over this country are giving themselves permission to get out and do things. Because they don’t want to miss it. It’s just family, they know all of these people.
I can point out dozens and dozens of these outings. Each very important to the participants.
What I’m saying is they would have granted themselves the permission in any case. The permission comes first, the excuse comes second. Don’t look at why people say they do what they do; look at what they do. I agree that the protests provided a handy excuse for people to get out, but nobody has showed me any reason to believe those people would have stayed in if it hadn’t been for the protests. There’s always an excuse, if you look for one.
Your assertions and MomOfWildChild’s insults will not convince me. Show me some convincing evidence and I’ll believe.
Purell stations at entrance and exit points at polls.
Markings for social distancing on floors.
Extra poll workers to wipe down voting privacy booths. Plus our building maintenance staff will be there to do cleaning as well.
Set up so that entrance and exit are separate....and traffic flow is in one direction.
State is mailing absentee ballot requests for the primary to all registered party voters (required in this state to vote in the primary). The legislature is working on changing our absentee ballots so that one doesn’t need to give a reason for requesting one for the general election. This requires legislative action.
Any food provided for poll workers will be individually wrapped...no sharing.
Additional poll workers to help manage folks waiting, and to help provide breaks for poll workers who work the full day.
Surgical masks will be provided for all poll workers (not n95) and extras will be available for voters who want one.
Our town polling places are sufficiently large to spread out the privacy booths for voting. For places that are smaller, they are looking at alternative sites where things can be spread out more.
In the past, we have shared work tables...so moderators and assistant registrars at one table. Checker and ballot clerk at one table. This won’t be the case unless the table is VERY long. We are trying to have everyone at their own table.
Checker and ballot tender tables will be fitted with plexiglass shields so that there is an extra layer of protection between voters and workers.
Those little “I voted” stickers will probably not be used. We can’t think of a way to do this so that multiple people aren’t touching the roll of stickers. We thought of cutting them up and putting them in a basket, but even that could be problematic.
We can’t forbid families from bringing children with them when they vote, but I believe we will ask that this not happen if at all possible. And no kids will be allowed to roam around. They aren’t anyway...but definitely not this year.
In normal circumstances, groups can and do have bake sales outside of the voting place. I don’t think that will be happening this year at all. Actually, back sales in general aren’t happening...which makes sense.
I’ve had outings and even extended stays from family coming to visit and I’d consider myself very careful. There are safer ways to go about it and not safe ways to go about it for most families. There are ways to see one’s granddaughter while still minimizing risks, I’d say.
I can personally say that the conversations around my work during the protests/riots did infact include many talks about how if it’s ok for one group to go out and have large gatherings then it should be ok for others to open up more activities. This was prior to us having outdoor dining and many other “safer” activities authorized. Also the same talks surrounded the hypocrisy of being limited to 10 people at a funeral while there were several large services for George Floyd. Regular working people took notice. We didn’t like the optics of it. We felt we were being held to a different standard. The joke became, “everything is allowed, you just need to carry a brick with you”. Let’s be honest, I watched many of these riots and there was hardly any pushback.
She was perfectly distancing all the time instead of cuddling with someone or dancing?