In the county I work for, the head of the health department today sent an email to all county employees stating that due to the local increase in COVID-19 cases, the health department’s website was going to start displaying our county’s statistics again. He wanted to make people aware that resistance to vaccination and the delta variant were big factors in the recent increase in cases. He mentioned that there was going to be no return to state mask mandates, so the politics of mask mandates no longer needed to be an issue, but he gave the medical advice that if you have not been vaccinated, you should still wear a mask in public indoor settings. One of the judges fired a response right back, using the “Reply All” so every county employee received it, wanting “scientific” evidence that masks are effective.
My thinking was “Geez, if he hasn’t been convinced yet that masks have any effect, he isn’t going to be convinced now. He’s trying to bully the health department because he has clout and can get away with it. Being a judge does not make him a medical expert.”
The health department head didn’t back down. He replied with a list of scientific studies regarding mask effectiveness. Good for him!
I work (currently remotely) with a guy who has “secret” information about the vaccine, and why he doesn’t want to take it. He considers himself to be super smart, but he’s friends with some person who has “access to knowledge not shared with the public.”
Yesterday I told him I hoped he didn’t die from COVID-19. He said we all die. I just blew him off, and got the info I needed from him to do my work. I should have told him he might die, but there’s no need to kill everyone else while he’s at it!
Old joke: While charging at the enemy, the Marine officer yelled “C’mon you guys, do you want to live forever.” And the perfect response was “Is 18 being greedy sir?”
One of the last things they do before they’re intubated is beg me for the vaccine. I hold their hand and tell them that I’m sorry, but it’s too late," Brytney Cobia, a hospitalist at Grandview Medical Center in Birmingham, wrote on Facebook this week.
“A few days later when I call time of death, I hug their family members and I tell them the best way to honor their loved one is to go get vaccinated and encourage everyone they know to do the same,” Cobia added.
…
Cobia listed all the different reasons she heard from patients and their families about why they didn’t get the vaccine.
“They cry. And they tell me they didn’t know. They thought it was a hoax. They thought it was political. They thought because they had a certain blood type or a certain skin color they wouldn’t get as sick. They thought it was ‘just the flu’. But they were wrong. And they wish they could go back. But they can’t,” she said.
Informal anecdotal survey: Wife and I just traveled from Hawaii to Georgia (grand baby 1st birthday).
Masking in Hawaii at airport 100% with a couple of noses showing.
Los Angeles (LAX) very good; some noses, some removes for conversation (mumble, mumble), outward protest.
Charlotte, NC okay; more noses, a couple of groups masking their chins only.
Augusta, GA; some outward antagonism with groups not even trying.
On the plus side - airlines weren’t taking any shit, no masking no flying. FAs and pilots were sticking to the, “you’ll be removed” message with no qualifications or quibbling.
I just started a new job yesterday and I am fully vaccinated. After I’d been there for about 4 hours, my unvaccinated boss informed me that his daughter has Covid. She lives with him.
My boss had Covid so that’s why he won’t get the shot. I need the work, so I hope I’m not putting myself at too much risk. But it’s my grandkids I’m more concerned about.
Ugh. We just visited NH last month, albeit very briefly. I’m sorry we spent even THAT much time there, now.
On that same trip, we visited Acadia National Park. There’s a bus that takes you around to many or most of the interesting sights, which we opted to do. The buses require you to be masked - and if you don’t have one, they had boxes of them so you could grab one when you got on. One ass decided he didn’t need to keep it on. The driver could see him in her rearview mirror. He nearly got thrown off the bus. I’m sorry he didn’t.
I stumbled across this article recently: a couple of Patriotic Won’t Wear A Mask Or Get A Vaccine Cause I’m A Proud American types were fined rather a lot of money for faking their paperwork to travel to Canada. Sadly, the reports don’t mention whether these jackasses spent any time as a guest of the Canadian government (I do hope they did…)
We went to a local brewery last night, specifically because they have an outdoor patio and a sushi food-truck was there. The patio was empty (Tuesdays is their trivia night, so everyone was indoors) and we got a table and started drinking.
I went in to get refills and when I came back the patio was still empty except for our table but now there was another couple sitting at our table. What the ever loving christ on a pogostick fuck?! I assumed they were friends of my gf, I certainly didn’t recognize the assholes.
I sat down and gave my gf her beer and began chugging mine. I wasn’t happy. My hearing aid battery had died halfway through our first beers, so I couldn’t really hear what they were talking about, and I didn’t try to hide that I wasn’t thrilled with the company. At one point the guy said, “hey, kayaker, is there a story to explain all your piercings?” I replied, “No”, while wondering how the fuck he knew my name.
I looked at my phone for a bit, then they left. Turns out my gf didn’t know them either. They just came up and sat with her. Not great (IMO) prepandemic, a total shit move today.
My gf told them. I guess they introduced themselves to her when they barged in/sat down. She replied with her name and mine, to be polite. I would have rather she said, “actually, we’d rather sit alone if you don’t mind” but she can’t be honest like that.
I’m not sure why I never thought to start a thread listing people who mocked vaccines and then died, but if we had such a thread, it would now include this fella, Scott Appley.
