It seems that the more interesting question I should’ve asked was who would continue to socially distance even after immunity, and for how long. That seems to be the more complex question.
I’m not going to worry about 6 feet vs. 3 feet after I get my shots. Heck, I don’t really pay attention to that now. Coworkers stand a bit farther away from me when we talk, and there are less of them around these days (most are working from home), but that’s about it.
Reading these threads, it’s fascinating to see how everyone is handling the pandemic differently. Some don’t leave their homes, get groceries delivered or curbside pick up, and are truly very isolated Others go to the store whenever they want to pick up something, are living more normally. We’re in the latter category. We’ll certainly comply with all guidelines from the state (in Washington, so not one of those states) but that allows us to eat in restaurants, shop for groceries and continue our kitchen remodel. Personally, I don’t worry about getting COVID at all (I’m not a denier, I’m just not a worrier). To the question in the OP, like others, I’ll wear a mask without complaint as long as the State and/or CDC recommends. I’ll stop immediately thereafter. I won’t be one who says “I’ll probably always wear one on an airplane, etc.”
To directly answer the question, i don’t mind wearing masks and will do so as long as it makes anyone more comfortable.
I will continue wearing one on airplanes, as i did pre-pandemic, to protect my throat from drying out.
I will (new to me) wearing masks if i have any suspicion i might possibly have a respiratory bug, and probably if i know i have allergies but don’t want to alarm others.
This.
There’s a lot more to social distancing than standing 6ft apart. IMO It’s mostly about minimizing any extended contact with other humans except a very small pod who all only interact with each other and with nobody else.
I’m about like you. I wasn’t big on loud crowded places before COVID and I won’t be after COVID’s become just another background risk of life.
Yesterday I was a patient at my dentist then wife & I had dinner at an outdoor restaurant with about half the tables occupied. During the day I met face to face outdoors & masked with about 6 sets of people; neighbors or contractors. Today I was at 3 retail stores. I ate lunch at an indoor restaurant, but there was just one other occupied table besides mine out of 40-ish tables in the place. Eating out at off-peak times is key.
As with most every Friday, tonight my SIL is coming over for dinner; she works both remotely and face to face with teens. Tomorrow for Easter I’m meeting/eating with 4 households of family: us, SIL, elderly MIL, & kindergarten teacher niece & her toddlers. Then I’m working / flying to Las Vegas for Sunday & home back to Miami on Mon.
Other than the easter feaster, that’s a pretty typical random 5-day span in my life. In Mar I spent 10 nights in hotels and visited 4 countries, sleeping in 3.
Lots of masking & hand washing, distancing as possible from strangers, but certainly not locked inside my house all alone for a year.
I gotta say, coming from a guy like yourself who rather enthusiasticly criticizes people for not taking covid seriously, this is rather a surprising itinerary for you to keep. Are you and your relatives all vaccinated?
Decent criticism, at least on the surface. Here’s my rationale that I hope isn’t just a self-serving rationalization.
Maybe I’ve absorbed the idea that a real N95 mask (not a fashion accessory), distance, outdoorsness, and hygiene are collectively more effective than they really are. But those are 4 things I’m quite serous about that it seems so many Americans are actively ignoring.
As to family, wife & MIL fully vaxxed for a month or two. Sis, me, & niece are 1-2 weeks after our first dose, so gaining immunity but not there yet. Most of my neighbors are older and have been fully vaxxed for at least a couple weeks, if not a month.
The key thing for me is outside. I can yak with 3 random people standing 8-10 feet apart just fine. Would I invite them to have the same convo in my living room or theirs? No. And again most (not all) of these people are my elderly vaccinated neighbors.
My work exposure has skyrocketed along with air travel demand starting in early Mar. I’m simply working a lot more days. My precautions at work are the same they’ve ever been: mask 100%, stay away from gaggles of people insofar as possible, pay attention to keeping your hands off public stuff, and rigorously sanitize the unavoidable touch points. All of which is simply company policy.
There’s also plenty of off-work days I never set foot outside my apartment and no one comes in. Just wife & I together.
I’m still doing less than 50% of the retailing I did pre-COVID. Only at off-peak times in uncrowded stores. And walking away from non-empty indoor restaurants. In which I see lots of people unmasked shouting at one another to be heard over the din of everyone else shouting at one another. That’s the scene (and the people) I want nothing to do with.
Is that all sound personal & public health behavior? Or self-serving cherry-picking? Damnifino for sure. But it’s worked for 12 months now.
Like you, I worry that the people who’ve been locked in their house for a year, even if they claim they’re fine with it, are harming themselves and that will end up harming society. The shame, which I’ve lamented many times in these threads is that the less seriously your local fellow citizens take all this, the more draconian you need to be on yourself to achieve the same level of safety. The most selfish amongst us are collectively unfairly burdening a lot of vulnerable people.
Well, I certainly won’t judge. I’ve had a beer on the way home from work often enough. Was just a little surprised you’re doing Easter.
I’m the same, except I wear a surgical mask and am probably more lax in general. Masking, distancing, hygiene, and avoiding obvious trouble spots WORKS. I’m fully vaccinated as well. I see no reason not to more or less go about my everyday business. Well, an “everyday business” that’s pretty significantly different than before the pandemic, but I go to stores, restaurants, and the gym without worry.
I’ll probably continue to mask up for longer than strictly required, and to wear a mask at other times in the future when I wouldn’t have before, like when I suspect I might be coming down with something or am unavoidably around someone who’s coughing a lot. And probably on airplanes too. I would have felt really weird about doing that in the past. Not so much now, I hope. I’m more concerned about habitual handshaking.
Tucker Carlson would like you to continue feeling weird about doing that.
Actually, he wants me to be harassed over it. Even now. It’s paywalled, but I saw enough of it - he recommended approaching strangers and asking them to unmask.
Not to perpetuate New Jersey stereotypes…but I can’t imagine that going over too well here.