No Masks....Would you?

[SFC B]

I had the virus and I have had both shots. I will only wear a mask where required. If you look at the actual DEATH statistics for last year versus a "regular" year you see truly how minimally consequential this virus was ( MAYBE 12% increase over the previous year, non-high flu season year and less than a tenth of one percent when looking at death rate). The severity of the situation was a PR/Media construct feeding on a large amount of the public tending toward hyper reaction and fear. It has greatly disappointed me to see how easily folks are willing to hemorrhage very basic rights because they are afraid. The correct action was always to simply shelter those vulnerable as with any flu outbreak.

For some actual context, a similar (or LARGER) amount of unborn children are killed EVERY YEAR compared to this singular event/outbreak with zero media coverage and VERY little consideration by the public. Pretty sad.

 

[beginnerhunter]

Agreed on almost all counts. I will say this though, mask wearing is so not a big deal to me, that I may consider wearing one in certain situations, even after Covid is not an issue. For instance, I saved money and planned for two years to be able to go elk hunting in Wyoming, I'm getting on a crowded plane west... There's always some person hacking up a lung on the plane and I think in the future, I'd consider just wearing a mask for the flight to lessen the chance of getting sick and ruining a week that is really precious to me. Though I would miss that plastic cup of seltzer that is 80 percent ice, 20 percent seltzer...

Reminds me of that Curb Your Enthusiasm episode where the waitress apologizes for the wait time due to her diarrhea. They leave without eating lol. Great show.

 

[RidgeRoamingRichard]

No. I work with seniors and refuse to put their health at risk. Makes me sad how many people are.

 

[Deleted member 18333]

this is gonna get out of hand fast.

so, i just won't respond.

but i think you know exactly what i'm talking about

Fair enough.

In regards to your 3 groups. I have neither pity nor contempt for any of them. What I do have is respect for all of them. IMO mask usage should have always been an individual decision not a mandate. However, its a pretty simple and unobtrusive thing to do and really isn't asking much of any one of us. It also isn't very difficult to determine the level of sensitivity of the people you find yourself around. Respecting their thoughts, even if they differ from mine, seems like a decent thing to do. At the end of the day, I don't pity anyone but I do respect them regardless of how or why they are in the situation they find themselves in.

 

[LousyResident]

I had the virus and I have had both shots. I will only wear a mask where required. If you look at the actual DEATH statistics for last year versus a "regular" year you see truly how minimally consequential this virus was ( MAYBE 12% increase over the previous year, non-high flu season year and less than a tenth of one percent when looking at death rate). The severity of the situation was a PR/Media construct feeding on a large amount of the public tending toward hyper reaction and fear. It has greatly disappointed me to see how easily folks are willing to hemorrhage very basic rights because they are afraid. The correct action was always to simply shelter those vulnerable as with any flu outbreak.

For some actual context, a similar (or LARGER) amount of unborn children are killed EVERY YEAR compared to this singular event/outbreak with zero media coverage and VERY little consideration by the public. Pretty sad.

What am I missing here? Unless you're talking about talking global deaths from all sources? In which case 12% would not be inconsequential.

 

[TOGIE]

Fair enough.

In regards to your 3 groups. I have neither pity nor contempt for any of them. What I do have is respect for all of them. IMO mask usage should have always been an individual decision not a mandate. However, its a pretty simple and unobtrusive thing to do and really isn't asking much of any one of us. It also isn't very difficult to determine the level of sensitivity of the people you find yourself around. Respecting their thoughts, even if they differ from mine, seems like a decent thing to do. At the end of the day, I don't pity anyone but I do respect them regardless of how or why they are in the situation they find themselves in.

i like that.

initially i wasn't sure where you coming from which is why i started distancing myself from the conversation.

all deserve respect. all are human. none deserve to die.

but, (and here's where i'll get in trouble) if you are overweight, smoke a pack a day, and habitually drink a liter of cola and have the nerve to yell at me about a mask (which i wear anyway) or shame me about my vaccination decisions.... i will absolutely lose my shit

that's my only point

 

[Bluffgruff]

The correct action was always to simply shelter those vulnerable as with any flu outbreak.

This didn't work in Sweden.

Seriously, the excess death toll in 2020 for the US was MORE THAN THE ENTIRE US death toll due to WWII.

 

[beginnerhunter]

No. I work with seniors and refuse to put their health at risk. Makes me sad how many people are.

Dang that sucks. Your state should get shots to seniors and people who work with them!

 

[LousyResident]

This didn't work in Sweden.

Seriously, the excess death toll in 2020 for the US was MORE THAN THE ENTIRE US death toll due to WWII.

To be fair, if you're going to do this, you need to talk about relative percentages of the population. I'm sure there are many things today that kill more American's than the ENTIRE CIVIL WAR!

 

[DouglasR]

To be fair, if you're going to do this, you need to talk about relative percentages of the population. I'm sure there are many things today that kill more American's than the ENTIRE CIVIL WAR!

But isn’t the issue that a large portion of those people were probably gonna die in give or take the same amount of time anyway?

 

[AggieHunter]

Yes, my towns has been mask free in restaurants and many stores the whole time and haven’t ever felt nervous about it.

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

Yes, but I'm a heartless prick.

 

[longbow51]

This has devolved from "Would you like to have lunch?" to the usual debate which has been going on for a year. And, yes, love to have lunch.

 

[Deleted member 18333]

i like that.

initially i wasn't sure where you coming from which is why i started distancing myself from the conversation.

all deserve respect. all are human. none deserve to die.

but, (and here's where i'll get in trouble) if you are overweight, smoke a pack a day, and habitually drink a liter of cola and have the nerve to yell at me about a mask (which i wear anyway) .... i will absolutely lose my shit

that's my only point

I hear you.

Over the last year I have only experienced two incidences of anyone confronting me or my family in regards to masks. Both were people that would fall within your group 1. Both were from Jackson. Both were when myself and my family were wearing masks.

The first was during a hockey tournament in Jackson. Stopped at a small shop in the town square and the lady behind the counter started screaming at my wife that the metal bridge of her mask was not tight enough across the bridge of her nose. We dropped the stuff we were waiting to buy on the counter and walked out. I may have mentioned to the lady that I thought there was a better use for her mouth than screaming as we walked out but largely we left with no drama.

The second was during the State Hockey tournament in RS. My wife is on the hockey board and helped to put the tournament on. The ice arena has their own rules on mask usage and sanitation procedures. They enforce them not the tournament volunteers. However, this was early this month and mask usage in much of Wyo was really starting to wain. After the Jackson team was eliminated from the tournament one of the mothers of a Jackson player came up to my wife and I, we both put on our masks as we could see she had hers on, and proceeded to tell my wife how disappointed she was with her about the lack of mask usage and enforcement while in RS over the last two days. She then told us that she was praying that our communities lack of mask wearing did not bring harm to her community of Jackson when she returned. My wife simply said, "your team played very well and please travel safe."

My experience with Group 2 is that they are in a state of blissful ignorance and could not care less about what others do.

 

[jabber]

I have this in the memes thread, but maybe it belongs here, too. And yes to lunch.

 

[longbow51]

This is up there for least correct statement ever on this site.

To reiterate


No, we are nowhere near herd immunity, kids get this at the same rate as adults, just not as severe of illness, check some facts, not personal, bit we aren't there.

With you here. Probably got covid, got vaccinated, still wearing a mask in public, and full time at work.

To the original post, dropping mask mandates is political pandering. Mask wearing should never have been political. I can dig up the articles from pre-covid supporting mask use for preventing flu transmission, basically cutting transmission from casual interactions from 15-20% to 2-3%. That seems like a worthwhile endeavor to me given how easy putting on a mask is.

Before: remember phone wallet keys
Now: remember phone wallet keys mask

So easy

So at what % of population is herd immunity achieved?

 

[BucksnDucks]

No. I work with seniors and refuse to put their health at risk. Makes me sad how many people are.

I can understand your particular situation, but interested in two questions. What other precautions do you take and what are your expectations for those who don't work with seniors?

 

[ImBillT]

The Governor of SC has dropped mask requirements for public restaurants, and implied that it may extend further.

Do you feel comfortable going to a restaurant that is 'Mask Free" ?

https://bit.ly/3ek9KTC

I didn’t wear a mask before our order, I didn’t a mask during the order and I haven’t worn a mask after it was removed.

I initially simply didn’t go into stores that had signs up. Then I discovered that the sign was more of a CYA. After that, if a store had a person posted at the entrance I would ask if I had to wear a mask to enter. If the answer was “yes” I walked away and never went back. If the answer was “no” I’d continue shopping there. I work in a city that has almost as many people as the state of WY, and only THREE businesses asked me not to enter, or to leave.

I have been eating in restaurants, maskless, since the day our restaurants reopened, as have my pregnant wife, and 21month old son. Some restaurants were blatantly ignoring capacity requirements from the beginning, and that just made me want to eat there more. I also stopped ordering take out from a business that was not open inside. If you’re not desperate enough to let me eat in your dining room and tip your waitress, I’ll get my takeout from somewhere that needs money enough to open up.

I traveled to NM, AZ, and CO during this hunting season. I’ve been comfortable defying the TX mask order because it is my belief that the gov of TX does not have the legal authority to enforce such an order(which is exactly why his order included instruction that officers could not legally detain you on the basis of violating his order). However, I do not know what powers the governors of NM, AZ, and CO have, nor was I traveling to their states for the purpose of imposing my beliefs on them. I traveled with plans to get fuel at gas stations, camp on BLM, and otherwise avoid any need to follow a mask order. Upon arrival in each state it was immediately obvious that there was dramatically lower compliance with mask orders in NM, AZ, and CO than in TX, so I proceeded to enjoy their states as if the mask orders were not in place.

I was terrified of covid-19 before it came to the US. I thought that international travel should have been shut down before it was. By a week or two into the shutdown, I reversed course. Protect the elderly. Everyone else should go on about their business.

So go ahead and eat at the restaurant.

 

[DouglasR]

Yes, but I'm a heartless prick.

*callous ass

 

[TOGIE]

I hear you.

Over the last year I have only experienced two incidences of anyone confronting me or my family in regards to masks. Both were people that would fall within your group 1. Both were from Jackson. Both were when myself and my family were wearing masks.

The first was during a hockey tournament in Jackson. Stopped at a small shop in the town square and the lady behind the counter started screaming at my wife that the metal bridge of her mask was not tight enough across the bridge of her nose. We dropped the stuff we were waiting to buy on the counter and walked out. I may have mentioned to the lady that I thought there was a better use for her mouth than screaming as we walked out but largely we left with no drama.

The second was during the State Hockey tournament in RS. My wife is on the hockey board and helped to put the tournament on. The ice arena has their own rules on mask usage and sanitation procedures. They enforce them not the tournament volunteers. However, this was early this month and mask usage in much of Wyo was really starting to wain. After the Jackson team was eliminated from the tournament one of the mothers of a Jackson player came up to my wife and I, we both put on our masks as we could see she had hers on, and proceeded to tell my wife how disappointed she was with her about the lack of mask usage and enforcement while in RS over the last two days. She then told us that she was praying that our communities lack of mask wearing did not bring harm to her community of Jackson when she returned. My wife simply said, "your team played very well and please travel safe."

My experience with Group 2 is that they are in a state of blissful ignorance and could not care less about what others do.

that's a good point. and i think most shaming would come from group 1, probably both in what i have experienced and have heard about. i can't decide if it's worse or not.

one is self righteous and the other is hypocritical and comes from a welfare state of mind, "i don't take care of myself and therefore expect others to conform to all of my needs because of that"

regardless, i think you made the point - I'm not in a position to determine someone's situation without knowing them. respect goes the distance.