It’s my family. And they live in Quebec. Right in the thick of it. Though I agree, they are still safer than we are here in the US. That said, travelling to see them is impractical given the multiple restrictions.
But even more than that, I just want to see my son and give him a hug.
I personally have anger at people who judge me for being too lax (in their eyes), and then I find out they’re doing something incredibly stupid like taking a road trip to Florida (it’s a remote island!), or deeming themselves safe because they have “negative COVID status” (not really a thing), or hanging out on Wednesday and then deciding Thursday that I’m no longer safe to mix with, when nothing changed for either of us.
I am receptive to the argument “I’m taking this seriously, but there are certain risks I have to take.” I am not receptive to “you’re not taking this seriously if you’re not doing exactly what I’m doing.” EVERYBODY is cutting a corner somewhere.
Good luck as you navigate this however works best for you. I was quite surprised when my daughter visited and gave me a hug - and then when she let us hold the baby. I’m not an overly big hugger, and I was happy to visit w/ her yet abstain from physical contact.
It might be worth re-examining your personal limits, and seeing if any tweaks might help you feel less “overcautious.” I’m not sure it makes me angry when I see idiots swapping sweat at crowded parties, or eager to pile into bars. But I do consider such behavior irresponsible, and likely to continue the situation. Fortunately, we’ve arrived at personal limits that are pretty sustainable over the longterm…
According to this thread, at least SOME folk aren’t cutting any corners. I’m impressed at such diligence, even tho my assessment is different than theirs.
I try to give people a wider-than-usual berth on the sidewalk but I don’t mind if they don’t reciprocate as long as they pass quickly. I don’t even mind people that go the wrong way down the grocery store aisle, again as long as they do not block the aisle or what I am trying to reach for, although if I go the long way around the aisle only to find someone else coming the wrong way down that one, I do get miffed that I went the extra mile 100 feet and they didn’t.
The only thing that gets my goat is when people walk in the wrong way in the entrances and exits to the grocery store, because it happens all the time in non-Pandemic times, so it’s that much more irritating when you not only have to navigate around them but get possibligh exposed in the bargain.
Yeah, I’m not a terribly handsy person either. I’m just feeling the separation more acutely lately. Probably because I’m being overcautious.
I also don’t give a rat’s ass if people want to breath on one another all night at some bar in Florida. I do care that my aging parents with additional health issues are being irresponsible and that my brother, who is smart enough to know better, is aiding and abetting.
I’ve experienced MANY generational issues, in which younger family members have been very critical of their parents’/grandparents’ choices. When I hear such from my kids, it is somewhat irritating/offensive, as I still consider myself a reasonably sentient, competent adult. If I want to risk myself, that’s my choice. Probably different if you are talking about someone who is elderly, in a care facility, etc.
Personally, I’d be more pissed at a horde in a FLA bar, because they are likely to cause wider transmission which will cost society more in $ and inconvenience.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to catch this disease. It looks very awful to endure and I’m a baby when I’m sick, but I’m more motivated by a desire to not get my daughter, son-in-law or any of my three grandkids sick unknowingly.
We are in a part of CA that has not had many cases (only 6 people have died in our part of the county), though the number is ticking up. We have no underlying health issues, and spouse and I are in our 50’s and 40’s respectively, so this is informing our willingness to take some risks. Also, with how it is spread, my perception at least is that outside activities, where there’s wind and great ventilation, are pretty safe, but indoor activities with multiple people in the same space for a long period of time are not, so that is also informing how we are approaching things.
My 5-year-old has started going back to daycare in the mornings, that’s our big risky thing, I guess. I have been paying close attention to the threads here about how often kids pass it on, and his day care is basically 80% outside, and my feeling right now is that this is within our risk tolerance (whereas it would not be for a pandemic where kids were known to be a major vector). I wanted to send 10-year-old to a camp that is all outside but it was full; I am not sending her to any camps that are inside.
I can work from home for about half my work. I go to the office a couple of times a week; we wear masks when not enclosed inside our own particular offices, and I rarely get closer than 6 feet to anyone for more than a second or two, except twice when people wanted to meet with me (and for various reasons we could not do it online, which most meetings have moved to), which we did with masks. One of these meetings was with my boss and that one took forever and if one of us had had covid we’d probably have passed it to the other, sigh. (Doesn’t seem like that happened.)
I’ve had a couple of “outside dates” where a friend and I talked outside, 6 feet apart, without masks.
I’ve also been doing relatively-urgent appointments (e.g., getting a new sim card for my phone, getting a new bike helmet) with masks and trying to stay outdoor and distanced as much as possible. I haven’t gotten my hair cut, as that’s too indoor for me.
@ThelmaLou Unfortunately, I went to that particular store this past Saturday. I counted two employees wearing masks. Maybe 1/4 of the customers, many of which were large family groups. Social distancing was a laugh.
Damn!
Mr VOW and I are both Expendable. We have occasionally shopped, and fortunately, when we have, I’d say a good 75-80% of the people wore masks.
We wear masks and wash hands in any encounter.
The one recommendation I just can’t get behind is disinfecting or setting aside stuff for 48 hours as a “decontamination.” If the package or envelope is not WET, I don’t see the threat. The transmission is through droplets in the air. For a while, experts were discounting MIST, saying the viral particles were only in droplets.
Viruses are picky little brats. They have no self-protection, because they are basically pieces of RNA code that contains replication instructions. And the replication unfortunately destroys the host cells.
A perfectly DRY package is quite inhospitable to viruses. Perhaps the minute bits of RNA can dry out completely and lie in wait for a host. But it won’t live forever! Just wash your hands after opening the box from Amazon!
It seems to me, wiping down the box with a disinfecting wipe would rehydrate the RNA and make it more amenable to attaching to a host. Actual disinfection to KILL the virus must leave the surface wet with disinfectant for 30 seconds to 30 minutes.
~VOW
I truly appreciate how up front everyone has been WRT their preferences/practices.
Wondering if I could toss another wrinkle into the mix. How would you compare your attitude towards COVID precautions to your overall risk behavior. Yeah, I know that would be tough, but if you are the person who quarantines your packages, do you also eat healthy, exercise, drive the speed limit, shop for cars based on safety…
Or if you are “out and about”, do your hobbies include skydiving, do you smoke, whatever.
Me, I think I’m pretty consistent. My overall lifestyle is pretty middle of the road - trending towards healthy/safe, going along with what I consider to be a middle of the road, relatively safe attitude towards COVID. I’m not obese, I eat pretty healthy, I don’t smoke or drink. But I used to drink/smoke/drug. I always wear a bike helmet, but I bike like a bit of a maniac. I’ve often required stitches and broken bones out of carelessness.
I’m comfortable with just about everything. I’m a really fearless person, sometimes to a fault and I’ve always had a particular difficulty in being scared of something I can’t see.
But this has nothing to do with me and my fears ( or lack thereof ). The reason I wear my mask, practice distancing and limit contact with others has very little to do with me.
I’ve got this little self-test I use to inform my behaviors and actions. I take a step back and ask myself “If everyone did this, would the world be a better place?” It’s the reason I reject overpriced prescription drugs for minor conditions, even if my insurance covers it. It’s the reason I make a real effort not to waste food and maintain a small carbon footprint.
When I apply this test to my activities during the pandemic, I end up being really strict with myself regarding things like masks and distancing and unnecessary contact.
I’m tired of seeing COVID- which is the public health issue to end all public health issues- being reframed as an issue of personal choice and self-care.
I understand the pushback against the policies that forbade people from earning a living without compensation. Our government handled it horribly and put all the disease related personal sacrifice on the backs of those that could least afford it and I get that frustration.
But things like wearing a mask and avoiding crowds socially are really trivially easy and it’s ridiculous that there is an organized effort to promote individual positions of gratuitously spreading disease.
I guess there is only one bright side to this, and it’s not really a bright side. But one of the political dangers of a strong public health response that works is the public never sees what could have been and the public health and government officials are sure to be accused of overreacting.
Can you imagine how loud the opposition would’ve been if we had locked down a month earlier and only 1000 people had died?
But it looks like we’re going to get the chance to see how the disease spreads without lockdowns. It’s horrible in almost every way but it will vindicate our socially responsible responsible leaders and officials,
I am very risk tolerant. I used to ski competitively. I buy ridiculously fast cars. I speed. I drink very moderately. I don’t smoke. I eat healthy. I exercise. I’d sky-dive but have never got around to it.
Truth be told, if not for my wife, I’d probably take fewer precautions overall when it comes to covid-19. But she depends on me and has had a very positive moderating influence on me. Also, as I get older I’m feeling less invincible and consider consequences of my actions much more seriously.
This is the fact that so many are missing and/or refusing to see.
This is a situation where your choice might have a direct impact on someone else’s survival. Yes, that’s an extreme statement, but it’s a true one. Making out that being asked to wear a mask is somehow an infringement of one’s personal freedom is ludicrous and the epitome of shortsightedness.
About a month and a half ago I was apartment hunting and ended up dealing with 2 rental agents and one landlord. With the rental agents we were all masked and gloved and did the social distancing thing. With the landlord I was masked. We went to shake hands (I was gloved), caught ourselves, pointed our right elbows at each other, patted our elbows with our left hand, and chuckled at it.
I am doing the same as Quick Silver and Thelma Lou-strictly following all precautions, up to and including my housemate cutting my hair on my front porch. Choose the porch to be visible to encourage other good choices on the part of passerbys.
I’m in a higher risk group but would have done it all anyway because I am a nurse and believe in the power of viruses and the power of selflessness and level-headedness.
I don’t find the limitations that onerous-sure beats dying or harming someone else.
Welp, I think as a country we’ve collectively shown ourselves to be very self-centered and with the attention span of a gnat. This obviously doesn’t bode well when we need to do something as a nation that requires sacrifice, patience, and diligence.
I keep looking at my mother’s WWII ration book and thinking if we had to do anything like that today, people would be losing their damn minds.
To answer the OP, I am grateful I am able to work from home, at least for now. I have no confidence in other people doing anything to lower my risk in great enough numbers to really make a difference. I do everything I can to stay out of stores and other places where there may be large groups of people.
I wear a mask when I can’t avoid going to a place with a lot of other people and I wear it properly. I will do everything I can to not be responsible for anyone else getting sick. I’ve considered what I would do to mitigate the risk for my husband if I did get sick. We both have risk factors for severe disease and I definitely do not want to be his vector if there’s any way I can avoid it. Trouble is, I could very well be infectious before I even knew I had the thing.
That said, I don’t sanitize packages that come to the house - I think we know enough by now that packages are low risk. I open them, put the stuff away, discard the boxes outside and wash my hands and any counter space that was used. I wash my hands a whole lot as it is anyway.
No haircuts or any other personal services for now. I love my hairstylist, but she has allergies and the aerosols they use in the salon make her cough even under normal circumstances, so I’ll pass on that. No one else in the house.
And I have patience. I can keep going for a long time.
Now that’s a whole other ballgame. I drink more alcohol than most people. I eat too much and never consider wether a particular food is “healthy”. I enjoy solo kayak trips, even on water that pushes my ability. I smoke marijuana nearly every day and use other drugs recreationally from time to time. I eat food way out of date and don’t think twice before finishing the potato salad that was accidentally left out too long.
For some reason though, I don’t want to get this particular disease.