Starship Asterisk*

rstevenson wrote: ↑Tue May 11, 2021 6:36 pm I hadn't realized that about polio. As you say, it has a place in our minds as a terrible disease from the past. (I may have had it, according to my mother. She recalls our GP saying about me "if he recovers, we won't know if he had it." Imagine a parent hearing that! I recovered after 6 weeks in hospital.)

Rob

Orca wrote: ↑Fri May 14, 2021 10:20 pm Anyone else having a hard time letting down your guard? I have been fully vaccinated for a while now, but I can't see myself going to a grocery store without a mask anytime soon. Or eating at a restaurant. We have started to visit family but only outdoors and mostly with masks on, unless we're well over 6 feet part.

I was talking about this with a friend and he said, "...aren't you going to follow the science?" This really hit home because I am usually the one saying (or at least thinking) things like that!

I try to 'follow the science' as a general philosophy. I try to update my views based on evidence. I try to let go of things I may have held on to when new information presents itself. It's sometimes difficult, but generally gets easier the more you do it. Of course I don't always succeed, but I am human after all. That said - when it comes to this pandemic I am going to have a hard time letting go of the precautions we've been taking for more than a year. I think this is largely due to the fact that I have kids and I'm afraid of causing them harm; it will be a while before the vaccines will be approved for little ones. I am well aware of the data that indicates kids don't contract it as easily and most kids who contract the disease are asymptomatic. Even so, thousands of kids have died and many more have suffered. It's particularly unnerving that, aside from recognized risk groups, you just don't know from person to person whether COVID-19 will present as asymptomatic or deadly until it's already happening. I recognize this as an emotional "hook in my registry" (the computer nerds will get that one).

So - am I "following the science with extra precaution?" Or, "being irrational and overly protective?" Maybe a bit from both columns?

So now the CDC says vaccinated people can go around in public without masks. Vaccinated people can hang out together indoors without masks. This is supposed to be a relief, something to celebrate. All I can do when I think about it is cringe. I suppose it might be different if I felt that we were "all in this together." I am frustrated and disturbed by the sheer number of people who have, through words and actions, displayed overt selfishness and a general lack of empathy during this pandemic. We would likely be in a better position by now if we'd been on the same page from the start.

One more thing to point out: who's to say maskless people in public won't lie about being vaccinated? Anti-maskers and pandemic-deniers have been gleefully endangering peoples lives the whole time.

orin stepanek wrote: ↑Sat May 15, 2021 1:20 pm When I go out to the store; I wear a mask! I probably will for a couple of months yet! They say while vaccinated you can still spread it! I don't want to do that! :roll: