We’re all going to get it.<<<<<<
I think we probably have almost all all been exposed, but stating that young people at the pizza takeout place have “no concept”, while getting getting pizza from said place sounds barmy. Social distancing does not include going to get pizza LOL. I have not seen a single person practicing social distancing, I am sure you know why that is.
CottonTales, my cleaning crew of 3 are to clean this Thursday. Would it be offensive to ask them to wear masks that I provide? I cannot bear the thought of telling them not to come but I will pay them either way and even if they are ill.
Getting takeout instead of dining at a restaurant is social distancing. It was mainly a dine in restaurant and bar, and I stayed well away from the diners, and from staff to the extent possible. Plenty of restaurants are going out of their way to provide more spacing between tables, or to takeout/delivery only. Had I known that place was “business as usual,” I would have turned down my husband’s suggestion of that venue for our Pi Day pizza pie.
I feel bad for my two good friends, each owns a restaurant. Both said their business has been quite affected. One will close one day a week for now until things get better.
My work involves several meetings and home visits a week. This past Friday, we got words that all in-person meetings including hone visits have been suspended until further notice. All businesses will be conducted via phone calls/conference calls. What a relief. But we still have to be at the office 5 days a week!!!
I can not get my 87 year old (relatively healthy, lives alone, drives, active life) mother to understand that this virus is serious, what social distancing means, and why it is important.
Yesterday she flew from SC (19 cases) to NY (over 600 cases). I begged her to stay at my sister’s but came home anyway. No cooperation from the sister to make her stay or offer to drive her home at a future date. My mother is focusing on “preexisting conditions” and “most people recover” and “it’s like the flu.” She is more concerned with the economy!
I have told her I will not see her until 14 days after her airport jaunt yesterday and I’m sorry about that but she took he risk. Honestly I think a lot of people still don’t get what this is. The public school in my town is closing for a week and a half. That is ridiculous and will do nothing. This is a long haul people!
I find dealing with my mother is like trying to parent a teenager, “it won’t happen to me.”
Well, I think at her age she is allowed to decide how she approaches this. Is she OK with not getting treatment? Is she OK to be at home if she is infected? If she is, then so be it. If I was 87 I would not want to suddenly live my last x period of time in hiding, but I would also know that I would not expect an ambulance and a hospital bed either. She is old enough to have that kind of frank conversation. 87 yrs old IS the preexisting condition, but I am sure she knows that.
While I agree that a 87 year old lady should live a life the way she wants, there is more than she herself that should be taken into consideration.
If she was infected, she could unknowingly spread the virus to others whom she was in close contact with, for example.
My preparation now consists of watching funny Coronavirus memes. There are some hilarious ones out there that make me laugh out loud. I feel better about this whole situation by finding humor in it.
If anyone would like to message me, I’m happy to share some of these with you. Let’s be virtual friends, because there is no way we will ever meet IRL, right? Well, maybe if you wear a red carnation on the outside of your hazmat suit…
Hope to hear from some of you!
. 87 yrs old IS the preexisting condition, but I am sure she knows that
This is what I don’t think she understands. She doesn’t feel 87 and doesn’t see herself as that. She brings her dog to an assisted living facility on Sundays (closed now) and tells me how “the old people pet and enjoy the dog!” She doesn’t think she is one.
True how she lives her life is her choice but based on her family genetics and current health, it is not wrong to assume she has ten good years left. She is lucky!
It’s just frustrating. I am hearing there are two groups of elderly in this - those who are terrified and those who are not concerned.
I’m canceling lunches and not going to a wedding shower next weekend. Boo. Thankfully, 2 weeks ago I did my 2 week preparedness shopping.
@Marilyn. I don’t disagree with what your attempting to do but it’s not correct either. You can use as much sanitizer and wipe down everything you want to. But it’s that one time you don’t. It’s impossible to be 100 % non contact unless you only stay home and don’t go out and don’t bring in food or have anyone over. This is why washing your hands and not touching your face is important. Sure use the hand sanitizers when appropriate and take precautions but if your husband touched the door handle or not it will come down to washing your hands maybe when you come home. I clean our door handles also but don’t do it every time I go walk the dog and come back as an example. But I do wash my hands before making sandwich. I do wipe down the counters more often with appropriate types of cleaners types of things… Maybe if I did this, this closely prior the regular flu would of been at bay.
But I get it. In Chicago in my neighborhood there was an apartment with like 50 kids with loud music drinking and dancing and I could smell the beer just by walking by Can’t imagine I used to be one of those kids… They think they will never contact anything besides CV. That’s who I worry about.
I had to have it ouT with my 90 yr mom a few days ago. No, she cannot go to her card games either! She gave up her movie day, her gym workout (last week) and visiting dear friend in nursing home (she did that weeks ago.)
She is crazy active for her age so it’s difficult for her.
I told her she can walk the paths around the lakes, sit out on her terrace and even go to her buildings pools (just to sit -she doesn’t go in the water ever.) There aren’t a lot of people there and plenty of space to spread out. And I told her to wipe down chair.
Her boyfriend (76 yrs old and has some health issued) texted me to thank me for getting the “energizer bunny” to listen. He knows he cannot leave his apartment.
Yesterday she was invited to a gathering to meet a certain Presidential candidate’s wife. She had insisted she wasn’t going to miss it. Thankfully, the campaign has cancelled all of those things.
I have to practice social distancing with my H too. He works for the Governor and yesterday two legislators tested positive. Fortunately, they haven’t been in Albany since early March. Capital now being deep cleaned and closed to visitors. But now he is working 20+ hours a day and it’s both Covid19 stuff and budget negotiations.
I told him to sleep in the guest room for social distancing, plus he is getting home in middle of night and I don’t want to be woken up.
@Empireapple. So I went to an Ace Hardware yesterday . The ones “running” the place were these 3 lovely ladies in their maybe 70s. We joked about what you just said. They told me their children are worried about them. The one lady said “, I think at this point I am a big girl and can take care of myself”. They knew how to take precautions and were more worried about their children thinking they knew what to do… So there’s always two sides to the coin, I guess. My mother on the other hand is 90.5. Has been in and out of hospitals this last year but doing really well now and is staying put. Wiping down things and washing her hands more often then probably needed but content.
The governor closed all Colorado ski resorts for one week starting today. This closure will be a big financial hit to the ski industry if it extends longer as March is usually a busy month with spring breakers flocking here to ski. Also, our beloved science museum is closed indefinitely.
We went out to dinner last night and our waiter said that particular restaurant has not been impacted yet. One reason we went is we know their tables are placed apart from each other, and we could sit at a table, so felt a little social distancing. Our friend came over and said she missed her hugs.
We are going to stop at a store on the way to my son’s place, just to get some berries to go with our waffles. If it’s crazy, we have some apples I will slice instead. He lives in a high rise, so I will be extra careful about touching things.
Now that I am stocked with food, I am doing extreme social distancing. I am staying in my house except for solitary walks.
The mountains are getting a lot of fresh snow but Mammoth Mountain is closed.
I know the funniest one I’ve seen to date had a picture of the Jumanji game on it and said:
For whoever started this game at the beginning of 2020 please finish it quickly
Our hs children had a few people over to hang out outside. We told them this is their last chance with their friends for a while. Considering they were all in school, sports, activities up until Friday night, one more evening together outside around the fire pit was not going to do any more damage than their activities from the weeks/day before. On Friday night I went out with my coworkers for one last night out together (take out in a friend’s backyard) since our school is closed. Same reasoning - we will now self isolate for 14 days but since we have been together sharing close quarters and activities nonstop prior and in a germ infested world of children --we were not risking anything by one last night on a patio together. Now we shut down.
I went out to pick up pizzas for the group of kids last night. No one on the roads. The typical 20 minute trip took me about 7. Not a single car or patron in the restaurant. It is a small family owned place that we have been going to for 20+ years. I typically can’t find a parking space and people park across the busy street for take out (they don’t deliver). The two servers and the cooks were just sitting around - no online or carry out orders waiting or being made except for mine. It made me really sad for them. They told me the normal traffic was down 85-90% and it has been this way for a few days. They said that they were down about 15-20% the past 2-3 weeks but everything plummeted this week. I gave a great tip and promised to be back as soon as I could.
Driving back home I checked out the normally packed chain restaurant and there were less than a dozen cars in the lot. This was at 7 on a Saturday night. People here in suburbia are heeding the warning.
Went to the grocery store at 6:30 am just to avoid crowds and pick up produce. They had a small amount of toilet paper, so I grabbed two 4 packs (limit) for my MIL, who is running low, and at 86, doesn’t drive much. They were good on medications, meat and poultry, eggs, butter, cheese, really most things. No wipes or sanitizer of course.
I went into the Walmart just to kind of scope things out. Very low on just about everything.
91+ year old with very significant heart issues FIL won’t stay home either (sigh). Everything has been explained to him. He watches the news. He discusses it with his sons in conversations knowledgeably. He knows if he catches it he will die if what we hear is correct. He states that himself. Heck, if he catches the flu he will die.
I think he wants this TBH. MIL passed away last summer. I think he’s lonely. I’ve had H start calling him daily instead of a few times per week.
In general, my mind remembers being at the beach in FL a month ago (wow, time flies!). I was sitting in my chair at our campsite watching the crabs feed on the shoreline when an Ibis came running toward them. I expected them all to scatter back to their holes for safety. Many did. Some didn’t. Needless to say, the Ibis grabbed about a dozen of those who didn’t. It was easy pickings for him (her?). A day or two later it was a similar situation except with a flock of 7 Ibises. Same thing. What causes some crabs to freeze or stick with business as usual? I’ve no idea. It makes no sense.
I can only hope the Ibises don’t come when FIL is out. I suspect it’s the exact same with my own aunts and uncles. I’m not sure any of them will stay in their holes even though every single one of them is in a critical age range, most with health issues putting them there too.
Will H and I soon be the oldest generation of our respective families? That depends upon where the Ibises are I guess.
I feel for the health care workers who will put their own lives on the line trying to care for many of these folks.