I hear some of these book clubs can get pretty wild!
Maybe the group will vote with its feet, and meet over zoom?
You can help by replying publicly that you aren’t comfortable attending in person, but would love to participate on-line. I wouldn’t give any reasons, just say that you aren’t comfortable. That will give others an excuse to say, “me too.”.
Or maybe most of them ARE comfortable with it. That’s okay, too, but then maybe the group will break up.
Best wishes.
Oh yes – we well remember Bronson Pinchot for not only Perfect Strangers, but his scene-stealing cameos as Serge in the Beverly Hills Cop films. Also was one of Tom Cruise’s friends in Risky Business.
But yeah … Pinchot has done a ton of voice work – animation, narration, audiobooks, you name it. He’s got a silky smooth baritone very unlike his put-on Balki voice. If you’re a fan of his, you might enjoy seeing him on his home renovation program The Bronson Pinchot Project from a few years back. In the clip below, you can hear both his “on the clock” voiceover voice and his natural speaking voice.
Yeah, baby! Thanks for the link.
I said this to everyone already out loud. I’m not shy. I did give a reason: I want to keep my chances of getting this virus as close to ZERO as possible, and that means taking no chances. At least one other person is going to be zooming because of having just returned from a plane trip. So I might zoom.
Well … the two of you Zooming, in a way, is direct communication to the group that not everyone in the book club is on board with reverting back to “pre-COVID normal”. What weight that communication has remains to be seen, it sounds like.
From afar, it seems like kind of a shame that the host of this gathering doesn’t seem to have considered a way to make everyone feel comfortable to attend in person. If the porch isn’t big enough, perhaps a yard area where everyone could spread out? Or even a public outdoor space somewhere? That’s how my parents hosted Mother’s Day in May – a big circle of lawn chairs in their backyard, with cohabiting couples sitting together and all households sitting a good 10 feet apart. Masks were on and off with eating and drinking.
- Had a friend over for a socially-distanced badminton game…last weekend? Weekend before last? Time in Covid-world is like threads on the new Dope: the usual mileposts are all gone.
Anyway, it was a day of light, pleasant breezes (almost too much for badminton at times), and we agreed: no masks needed outside, but put one on if you go indoors. My deck had plenty of room for him to sit >6 feet away, and he and my wife and I had a long and pleasant conversation after we were done playing badminton.
- My sisters and I (who live a ways apart from each other, and are definitely not in a household bubble with each other these days) are getting together at my kid sister’s cabin in West Virginia this weekend, along with my older sister’s husband.
We’re going to be going through a lot of Mom’s papers (she’s in her mid-90s and well into Alzheimer’s) to figure out what we should keep, what we can toss, and what needs something done about it now or soon. We figured that wearing masks would be too burdensome, but we also wanted to know that we weren’t going to be giving each other the virus, so we all got Covid-tested about a week ago (we’re all negative).
Obviously, one or more of us could have picked up the virus in the past week, but we’re going to assume that the same cautious behavior that’s kept us all Covid-free this far should suffice to keep that risk quite low. The fact that we’ve known each other for a lifetime, and know we’re of a similar mindset about this, makes a big difference.
There aren’t many people other than my sisters that I’d feel comfortable being in the same room with, without masks, even after their having been tested recently, and those few people are people I’ve known for decades.
Not really right for this forum, but yesterday we were walking the dog thru a park. As we passed the playground, there must have been 50 teens, so NOT distancing, with not a mask in sight. In tight groups talking animatedly, right in each others’ faces. Was the first time I have been that close to such a gathering. Made me uncomfortable even as we gave them a wide berth. Fucking idiots!
I have a group that I meet with on Fridays for dinner and Britcoms. When we went into phase 1, I stopped going. When we went to phase 2, I cautiously started again. When our Governor mandated masks for all indoor activities of over 10, I decided I just wasn’t comfortable. So I stopped going. I am not sure at this point when I will go back. I also put my gym membership on delay, I may cancel it in November, I haven’t decided. Other than work and necessary shopping, I really do not go or do anything.
The book club meeting that kicked off this thread is next week. I’m not going to go. I started the book and I think it’s a good one, but I couldn’t get into it. I had dinner with my neighbors a couple of weeks ago-- four very compliant people. The book club is a bunch of wild cards as far as I’m concerned. I just don’t want to chance it.
If you had lunch on a Saturday (outdoors) and someone in the lunch group tests positive on the following Tuesday, what time will you arrive in St Louise and do you quarantine when you get there.
Nobody else in the lunch group shows symptoms. Should they stay home for 14 days or just ensure they wear a mask when out in public.
So we have been seeing a recent uptick in cases here in Connecticut, including an outbreak in a nursing home in my small town that has infected over half the residents and staff.
With this as background (along with the White House outbreak that is in the news), my wife has been getting increasingly nervous about my planned January ski trip with a roommate from outside our household, so I will be going solo. I have not been within six feet of someone outside of my household without a mask since March, and it doesn’t seem like a good idea to start now, even if it’s just one person.
I also don’t think the roommate I was planning to drive up with and stay with has been quarantining and social-distancing to the extent that I have. He’s retired, but seems to be doing a lot more activities in the community than me.
This is going to double the cost of a condo for me, and I’m now going to have to drive to Maine by myself, but it’s worth the peace of mind. I figure I can social-distance outside for the actual skiing, but there would be no way to avoid exposure to someone in the same car or condo for a week.
That’s part one. Part two is have you (even though you were masked) been within six feet of an UNMASKED PERSON for an extended period (your call on what constitutes “extended period”)?
Not willingly, and definitely not for an extended period of time.
However, I’m an engineer and a construction manager, and my work sometimes requires me to work in close proximity to construction personnel, usually in the field at construction sites. For whatever reason*, most of these construction workers, foremen, and superintendents are people who eschew masks.
According to state regulations (put into place by our governor’s executive orders), and my agency rules implementing this, they’re not required to wear masks if they are outside AND not working in close proximity to another person (defined as within 6 feet). However, most seem to only hear what they want to hear, which is generally only the first half of that (i.e. the “outside” part). Anyway, I have to constantly ask people to put on a mask when I speak with them.
Some of them will instead back up to >6 feet and raise their voice. So I find myself talking to a person not wearing a mask who is now yelling at me. 
*Probably because most of them are white males without college degrees, which is one group that is still solidly behind Trump (though not to quite as great as an extent as in 2016), and they follow Trump’s lead on the wearing of masks.
It’s not just the construction workers though. I also work with other engineers, managers, and attorneys, and many of them have recently been acting like the pandemic is over, or that the worst is behind us. After months of virtual meetings, many have gone back to in-person meetings. They’re all wearing masks at least, but are crowding into a small conference room. Fortunately I work in a different building, and my boss has resisted this. My group is still joining these meeting only virtually or by phone. If it weren’t for my boss, I likely would have been dragged into these in-person meetings by now as well.
Just my personal anecdata, I guess I’ve been on what some would consider the “less careful” end of the spectrum. Mask always indoors in public spaces, but we have been having 2 people come over to play music with us in our home (at separate times, 3 total). Always windows open and widely spaced in a large room. And we perceive the other 2 as similarly cautious in their behavior.
Well, last week we had 2 more people over, for a total of 5. All unmasked. It was cool, so windows were closed. I was surprised (dummy me) that I felt a little uneasy, even tho we were all 6’ from each other.
That group of 5 didn’t mesh well, so I think we’ll max at 4. But as we move indoors, I think my personal comfort level will have groups of 4 wearing masks.
Just offering my experience/impressions FWIW.
I didn’t go to a happy hour Friday night at work. Saturday morning, one of the ladies there devoted a fever and had a positive test. I honestly think the chances of the others catching iare low. They were outdoors, wore masks when not eating, kept some distance (but not 6 ft).
However, the disruption is severe. We are a small faculty, and now have 5 people out for two weeks. It’s not clear if they will be allowed to work from home, or take leave. We have to scramble to figure out how to supervise students with no subs and obviously, we shouldn’t cram them in a room. The people directly involved have to isolate themselves, and some have family that will be inconviencned.
The larger the group, the more likely someone will get it, and the more complicated the fall out. Even if noone else gets sick.
At my job (medical facility) exposure is considered “extended” if it’s 15 min or more while not being able to keep 6 feet distance from a symptomatic masked person. YMMV