bolt. Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 As we've all be "social distancing" I've been struck by how old-timey some of these things feel. Like wearing gloves: particularly food servers wearing gloves. And stepping off a wide path to allow someone else to go by with plenty of space, even though there was room to pass closely. And it makes me wonder about class too. Like, why are all the upper class sports distant (tennis, cricket) and the lower class sports much less about personal space? Is this why, "We avoid people who look unwashed in public." -- maybe wasn't just part of being a snob, but also part of avoiding diseases that thrive where people can't get as clean as they would like to? Is this where prejudices mandating only being physically near to 'our kind of folks' (race, class, religious circle, etc) and actually staying back from 'other' others comes from? Is it a coincidence that when we avoid someone, we avoid them by about 6ft: the spread of this droplet virus (possibly others)? My main thought for discussion is: Do you think those types of formal (snobby) manners from bygone eras had a protective role in the transmission of illness? Do you think it was intentional? Coincidental? Superstitious? Can you think of other examples? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slache Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 Interracial marriage and marriage within families. I think those were meant to protect against not infectious disease but hereditary ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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