Corona - what does help you? Your fears, thoughts, everything

[CellarDweller]

So, the scenario in New Jersey may play out like this: people will rush to the stores to stock up and buy Thanksgiving provisions and then they'll go home, lock themselves inside with their family members, have a big feast and spread germs to each other. It's curious how he says not to even go outside. (I'm thankful for my large backyard garden.)

It wouldn't surprise me to see this happen.

Thanksgiving for my immediate family will be just the four of us, and since we've only been going out as necessary, we're all safe.

So, I was actually supposed to travel again three days ago, but I realized several weeks ago that it was not going to happen. I contacted traveling buddies and told them of my decision and sent money to pay for my share of the lodgings which he said were uncancelable. So I haven't heard from them since that time, and I'm afraid they're mad at me, but I was simply dying of stress even thinking about making the journey. 

As for you backing out of the trip, you have to do what's right for you.  Had you gone, I suspect that you would've spent the majority of your trip worried about picking up the virus, and wouldn't have enjoyed yourself.

[serious crayons]

So, I was actually supposed to travel again three days ago, but I realized several weeks ago that it was not going to happen. I contacted traveling buddies and told them of my decision and sent money to pay for my share of the lodgings which he said were uncancelable. So I haven't heard from them since that time, and I'm afraid they're mad at me, but I was simply dying of stress even thinking about making the journey.

People should get to set their own boundaries. Especially since there are so many people who believe everybody should be responsible just for themselves. Those might sound similar, but they're kind of opposites. Setting your boundaries means ordering your groceries instead of shopping, turning down the dinner invitation, etc. The people who think it's everyone for themselves think that if they go into a crowded place without a mask they're only risking their own health

The other day on Nextdoor, a guy took the "everyone for themselves" side. There were probably 15 people on that thread trying to point out that not wearing a mask was not just all about him. At one point, I said, Jerry, do you know how contagion works? Because if you don't, we can have a discussion about that. But if you do know, you need to connect the dots and see how others could be affected by your going maskless in public.

Jerry never acknowledged that, just kept coming back with comments like "I don't care about your FEELINGS" in posts full of Trumplike all-caps.

Finally, Jerry said "I'll give a million dollars to anyone who can point to a study showing correlation between masks and COVID." So five minutes later a guy posted a study and said "I'll take that million." Then he linked a second study and said "Now it's two million." Then a whole page full of studies and said he wanted 21 million." I said, "Don't get greedy! Jerry didn't say he'd offer a million for every individual study. Just take your million and have fun with it."'

Not sure if he got his money using Venmo or Paypal or in person or with a check in the mail.

Going maskless to a crowded Trump rally or a motorcycle rally (or here people did it at a rodeo, Brokies!) is stupid for everyone involved. But in the end you catch COVID from just one person, whether they're at a big rally or across the table. That kind of blew me away when I thought about it.

[Front-Ranger]

I heard from my traveling friends so they are not that mad at me. They're in the usual Gloucester place right behind the Man at the Wheel statue. So, it's very rainy there? Fallout from one of our many hurricanes this year?

It's amazing to me, Katherine, how much energy people in the U.S. expend talking about face masks. In Europe, there is no debate. You have your mask with you, you always wear it whenever signs tell you to.

[serious crayons]

It's amazing to me, Katherine, how much energy people in the U.S. expend talking about face masks. In Europe, there is no debate. You have your mask with you, you always wear it whenever signs tell you to.

I mean, I haven't seen anyone refusing in a store or anything, though I mostly shop in pretty blue neighborhoods. But I've been to protests and I've seen people objecting online. Our national leader has, by example, depicted mask-wearing as wimpy and emasculating or something. We have fake news "experts" who claim masks are not effective. We have people who complain that a mask mandate tramples on their liberties. (I've asked numerous times whether it's then OK to drive 80 mph through a residential neighborhood because speed limits trample on their liberties.)

And we have people who are stupid. Objecting to mask wearing is like objecting to national health care. They're both about not caring what happens to other people.

Frankly, I think this may actually be what the founders had in mind. Encouraging people to have the freedom to express their thoughts and to live with limited government interference. Maybe they just didn't foresee people as being this stupid.

[serious crayons]

I heard from my traveling friends so they are not that mad at me.

Yay! 

[Front-Ranger]

What big changes have you made in your life since the pandemic? It's important to feel like we have some little control of our destiny in these uncertain times.

Me, I've started talking to my cat. And most times, she answers back!

[serious crayons]

Me, I've started talking to my cat. And most times, she answers back!

I do that, too, although much of the time we converse telepathically.

My biggest change is not going into the office, which is fantastic. COVID did me a great favor in that respect. At the very least, I'm saving an hour a day commuting and $160 a month renting a parking garage space.

Another positive change is that I work in an industry that is no longer the most collapsing sectors of the economy.

Yet another positive change is that I now have an excellent excuse not to go to the gym.

The biggest negative changes include not getting to meet friends for happy hours or dinners. Slightly offset by having a good excuse to order takeout or delivery -- I'm supporting my local businesses!

 

[Front-Ranger]

I do that, too, although much of the time we converse telepathically.

You mean you talk to Charlie, right? Or have you acquired a cat too?

I, too, drive far far less than before pandemic (BP). And sometimes I wonder why I ever drove around so much in the first place. It was mostly because other people wanted me to show up to help them with something, be companions with them, or escort them. Or just be together. (I work at home.) I can understand the last reason and the first. But the companioning and escorting got out of hand. I like to visit with people once every month or two each but weekly or several times a week? No. I'm going to change my ways and be less available to amuse and entertain others. Going to focus on my grandchildren and people who need my help.

[serious crayons]

You mean you talk to Charlie, right? Or have you acquired a cat too?

Oh, sorry, yes. I did mean Charlie. Although if anything should ever happen to Charlie (god forbid, but he did turn 12 this year) I probably wouldn't get another dog. But a cat would be nice! Cats are just much lower-maintenance than dogs and by then I might want to live in an apartment, which complicates dogs' needs even more. And they're about equal in terms of their conversational skills and witty repartee.

[Penthesilea]

Can I vent a little?

Aaarrrgh! I'm so angry about some of our politicians right now. And of course about the parents in my nursery!


Schools, kindergartens, nurseries etc. have been closed down due to high Corona numbers since mid-December. But: there are emergency openings for people who simply can NOT work from home, can not find a private place/person to look after the children, etc. Emergency only!

Guess what? In my group 8 out of 9 children attend nursery every day. And I know for sure that only 1 set of parents (out of 9) both go to work. That means 7 out of 9 children attend nursery even though at least one parent is at home full-time!

In contrast to the first lockdown last March/April, the parents do not need to show any kind of proof that/why they can't attend to their children themselves. The parents call my boss, say they need to bring the child, and that's it. My boss is not allowed to ask for the reasons, let alone to ask for proof. This lockdown is a joke, as far as kindergartens and nurseries are concerned (schools are different).

The parents lie to our faces, we know it, they know it. And we can't do anything about it.

As for politicians, that's the state politicians of the federal country I work in. They failed to make regulations for parents needing proof of their emergency. In other federal countries the situation may be different.