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[The Ghost of Æthelthryth]

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Edited April 16, 2021 by Saxony

[wathe]

Professionally (emergency department), I think masking for every patient encounter is probably a habit I will hang on to for a good long time, maybe forever.  It's interesting how my perspective has shifted on this since COVID.  Pre-covid, we rarely masked.  PPE was available, just not commonly used, and not used nearly as often as it should have been.  I was as guilty as anyone for not masking for every respiratory illness patient (like little kids with colds - didn't used to routinely mask for that)

Personally, I will probably mask in public indoor spaces for a good long time post-covid, especially during flu season.  I don't find it to be a hardship.  And I think cultural acceptance will be long-lasting.

 

[maize]

There never has been a mask mandate in my area.

I starting masking way back in March; it just made sense to me that masks might help.

I'll absolutely keep masking until there is widespread vaccination.

I think I will mask when I have the sniffles in the future as people do in Asia; I've always admired that as a considerate gesture and just wasn't brave enough to be the stand out weird person. I'm sincerely hoping that masking will be more socially acceptable going forward in the US, though the politicization of masks makes me less optimistic than I originally was.

[AmandaVT]

5 minutes ago, maize said:

There never has been a mask mandate in my area.

I starting masking way back in March; it just made sense to me that masks might help.

I'll absolutely keep masking until there is widespread vaccination.

I think I will mask when I have the sniffles in the future as people do in Asia; I've always admired that as a considerate gesture and just wasn't brave enough to be the stand out weird person. I'm sincerely hoping that masking will be more socially acceptable going forward in the US, though the politicization of masks makes me less optimistic than I originally was.

I will also continue to mask when I have a cold or if I'm in close contact with a lot of people during cold/flu season. It feels considerate. 

[Pawz4me]

I'm just trying to get through the "right now."

I'll have to worry about anything else when we get there. I do fervently hope that masking remains very common.

[kbutton]

I think I will wear a mask until we have a vaccine, and if that fails, then I will have to re-evaluate. 

Once we reach stability with COVID (I hope!), I would probably mask if I thought I was coming down with something and needed to go about my business. I am not the type to go out *sick,* but a bad cold is still not fun for people to catch. 

I feel like my trust in some of the institutions that protect us from preventable outbreaks is eroding due to how this has been handled, and I am hoping that medical people will wear more PPE in the future and that more places will be willing to screen people broadly, not just, "Have you been to China" long past the point where we knew it wasn't just China!!! If I can't trust the people in charge anymore, then I will feel like I have to be more proactive myself with masking. 

The fact that we weren't screening people better earlier on was especially galling to me since my DH works as a frontline healthcare worker, and our whole family could've been the sacrificial lamb so, so easily given the lack of PPE. The guidance for what PPE he should wear in a COVID situation went all over like a ping-pong ball not only due to uncertainty about guidelines but about availability. That was just not remotely okay with me. We truly thought we'd find out he was already exposed by the time they figured out what was going on in our area. In fact, he has a co-worker that may be permanently disabled as a result of this, and he worked with this person several times before this coworker became ill. 

I will never hear something like, "We have isolated the one and only Ebola patient that came into the country" ever again without thinking about how COVID was not widely screened for until it was already everywhere. 

[wathe]

A bit off topic, but it has also made me reconsider weekend scout camps.  Particularly the younger sections (beavers and cubs here, so K-5).  My kids often got sick right after a cold-weather "camp", which at those ages was up to 30 kids packed into a cabin (sleeping in rows on the floor, or at a fancy camp, in a row of triple high bunks).  Fair weather camps are  in tents - 4 kids packed into a 4 person backpacking tent, sleeping with their faces inches from one another (most groups here camp with shelter equipment provided by the group). 

I didn't used to be bothered by this.  Now I'm totally grossed out by the idea of shared sleeping spaces (even for a future post-covid world).  I've gone as far as to buy each of my own kids a 1-person tent, that they will use for every future camp.

[Catwoman]

We will be wearing masks, not only until there is a vaccine that is proven to be effective once it has been in widespread use for a while, but also until we are convinced that at-home medications are readily available to prevent serious consequences from the virus. 

The vaccine won’t be 100% effective, so that won’t be enough to convince us to stop wearing masks. The treatment options need to be both effective and easy to obtain, as well.

Needless to say, we will probably be masking for a long time! 

And count me among the people who wish masking would become habitual for people during flu season, as well as when they are experiencing any symptoms of illness. 

[The Ghost of Æthelthryth]

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Edited April 16, 2021 by Saxony

[Lecka]

Anytime I have a cold sore!!!!!!

Other than that — I have no idea.

I was shockingly appreciative of the whole mask thing when I had cold sores last month, so thankful to have them covered up 🙂

I might wear them if I think I might be sick?  I don’t know.  

Edited October 5, 2020 by Lecka

[sbgrace]

I think we'll continue to mask when we can't social distance until a vaccine is wide-spread/the virus is under control. 

We live in an area where, for the most part, 75% of people only mask when "forced" to by venue rules. So we're in lots of social situations with very few masked people, despite the mandate. Still, it makes it a tiny bit easier to the in the vast minority when there is a mandate. 

I don't think we'll continue to mask post-COVID. 

[hopeallgoeswell]

We are not wearing masks and will continue our trend after this has run its course...not seasonally...not while I zoom through the store...not when I have people over to my house...not while I watch a sports game outside...not for any other pathogens transmitted through aerosols and/or droplets.  If the IFR of a pathogen were much higher than the current ones in circulation, we probably wouldn't leave our house since masks/vaccines only protect to a certain extent.  If anyone in my family was immunocompromised, even before this, we most definitely would have been wearing N95 masks everywhere and requiring them for others who were around us.  I don't care if others want to do wear what ever face covering they find best fits their risk profile and don't think they should be ostracized for doing so.  We have never been the type to go-go-go everywhere and don't come into contact with many people other than in passing, and we homeschool, so when the rare occurrence comes around that someone is feeling even a bit under the weather, we all stay home and isolate.  On a tangential note: I do wish that the topic of overall health and immunity got just as much airtime as masks and vaccines.

[Farrar]

I live in a dense urban area. We will keep masking until the vaccine is widespread and shown to be widely effective. I suspect masking may now be long term behavior for us.

I don't find it particularly annoying. I was just at my mother's, so I got to experience what the pandemic is like elsewhere. People were way less masked overall... but distancing was easier. Part of this is just being comfortable with what you know, but I did feel like I sort of like the lack of decision making here. If I go out, I have to mask. Period. There's no choices to be made. You will pass people on the street at relatively close proximity. Therefore, you must mask. You don't have to think about it. As a result, everyone is masking unless they're doing something where they're specifically not - they're drinking, eating, or have found a specific spot where they're distanced and planted themselves there to be or socialize in a distanced way. At my mom's, it was so much fuzzier because you needed masks in public in such a smaller number of places. But then I found that people were much more relaxed about not distancing socially among friends in backyards, passing people on a trail, etc. as a result. Because it was all a bit more chill... but I didn't love that aspect. Like, my mom had to deliver the neighborhood newsletter and she didn't mask, but she inevitably met people. No one got too close... but people did get closer than I would have liked. I saw that you had to think about it a lot. When you're masked, you just don't worry about it if you have to briefly come close to someone. There were some other benefits to the extra space... For example, curbside pickup operations were more widespread - which I didn't think about ahead of time, but of course... if you have a parking lot and parking on the street isn't at a huge premium, you have plenty of space for outdoor pickup operations - like businesses here don't have a "side door" to stage that sort of thing through in the first place. So there were other aspects that were nice. 

[The Ghost of Æthelthryth]

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Edited April 16, 2021 by Saxony

[Sneezyone]

We will continue to mask until an efficacious vaccine is readily available to EVERY member of our household on demand.

Edited October 5, 2020 by Sneezyone

[sbgrace]

post issues/dp

Edited October 5, 2020 by sbgrace

[prairiewindmomma]

I masked pre-covid during peak influenza because I am at high risk of complications, even for normal outings like to the grocery store.  I got a lot of stares, and I'm hoping some of this mask normalization will carry over (but I am doubtful).  

I will mask until I think I am safe in going about my daily activity unmasked.....which is definitely at least post-vaccine.  I will probably always mask during times of mass illness and I do give thought to mass gatherings.

 

[sbgrace]

11 minutes ago, Æthelflæd said:

What would you consider as "under control"? Would your long term opinion change if it were a seasonal variant type of event? 

When the virus is no longer transmitting in my area is actually what I meant by under control. So I expect to be in masks for a long time. 

I have been hoping we will eradicate this particular virus at some point. I haven't thought ahead to seasonal variants, but I think of this virus differently than seasonal flu because we have no vaccine and few effective treatments. It is more deadly, particularly for some people. I also feel uncomfortable with the unknowns connected to long term impacts. If this becomes seasonal,  I assume a lot of those factors would be different. 

Edited October 5, 2020 by sbgrace

[wathe]

26 minutes ago, Æthelflæd said:

Since you mention being a healthcare worker, do you mind me asking if you have any thoughts on a Hygiene Hypothesis like situation? Something like where, particularly for children, the idea that limiting pathogenic exposures long term results theoretically in weakened immune systems and other complications, or do you think that there will still be enough causal exposures to negate that (if you entertain the Hygiene Hypothesis at all)? 

I have given this some thought.  I think there will be still be plenty of casual exposure to various pathogens, definitely enough to negate - even if we mask more long term, kids will still be kids, and they will be sharing germs.  I expect we will still be doing things like sharing meals with friends maskless, but wearing masks on the bus or in the grocery store or HCP waiting room.

[Pen]

 

I already did some masking BC (before Covid)  for work and personal health reasons.  If I were back working in medical-ish area as I did earlier in my life, but with knowledge and perspective that I now have, I would use a mask much more frequently than I did then. 

Upcoming, I will probably mask less than now, but more than in past. 

I don’t have a specific time frame for when - Both after mandates are lifted and when I think rates in my area (or the cities I go to) are low, and other factors.   Seasons will enter in as well- pollen and smoke seasons as well as seasonal communicable illness. 

[Spy Car]

We are nowhere close to the end of mask wearing being a sane option.

And I'd refuse to be complicit in someone else's death if some bozo gave orders to the contrary.

Not just a no, but a hell no!

Bill

 

 

[kbutton]

30 minutes ago, Æthelflæd said:

Since you mention being a healthcare worker, do you mind me asking if you have any thoughts on a Hygiene Hypothesis like situation? Something like where, particularly for children, the idea that limiting pathogenic exposures long term results theoretically in weakened immune systems and other complications, or do you think that there will still be enough causal exposures to negate that (if you entertain the Hygiene Hypothesis at all)? 

My DH who is in healthcare says that you still have immune cells even with masks. Masks don't kill your immune cells. I take this to mean that there are  ways our immune system functions in addition to learning to identify individual threats and building antibodies to those threats. 

I think there is some variation in what kind of immune response is provoked with vaccines, but I don't much about it--I was reading recently that sometimes vaccines provoke more immune activity than getting the illness itself, but I am not sure if that is true for all vaccines and all illnesses.

[The Ghost of Æthelthryth]

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Edited April 16, 2021 by Saxony

[The Ghost of Æthelthryth]

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Edited April 16, 2021 by Saxony

[kbutton]

2 minutes ago, Æthelflæd said:

The Hygiene Hypothesis simply posits that without exposure to varied and sundry pathogens during the course of child hood that the long term immune response is often compromised, and that things such as allergies, asthma and other respiratory conditions may be much more common, rather than no immunity exists. It is a Hypothesis, not a proven, obviously, so I was curious as to people's thoughts on it. This would involve more than masking as well- things like increased hand washing, use of sanitizers and widespread disinfectant use in schools and other institutions would presumptively play a part as well. Might be a separate conversation beyond masking. 

Ah, that was broader than what I was thinking.

I was definitely not sheltered from germs, dust, bugs (played with them), animals (had pets, spent time on dairy farms, had bats in the attic), dirt (frisbee mud pies were my spec-i-al-ity, and we had a hand-dug basement), the outdoors (most of the county was state forest land), puking children (classmates, kids I was babysitting) plants (had houseplants, gardened, and regularly picked weeds for my mud pies) etc. growing up, and I developed severe allergies as an adult (NO family history of it either)--to the point that I couldn't walk from my front door to the car without my airways tightening up. And my heightened response to rodents? Insane--I can *feel* a mouse in my house via my airways before I can find evidence of one. That's my anecdata, lol! 

[Wheres Toto]

7 minutes ago, Æthelflæd said:

The Hygiene Hypothesis simply posits that without exposure to varied and sundry pathogens during the course of child hood that the long term immune response is often compromised, and that things such as allergies, asthma and other respiratory conditions may be much more common, rather than no immunity exists. It is a Hypothesis, not a proven, obviously, so I was curious as to people's thoughts on it. This would involve more than masking as well- things like increased hand washing, use of sanitizers and widespread disinfectant use in schools and other institutions would presumptively play a part as well. Might be a separate conversation beyond masking. 

Sure but things like having pets, playing in your yard or outdoor playgrounds, etc. would increase exposure, right?   I think we'd have to go to some extremes to get to the point where kids weren't getting any exposure to anything that would trigger an immune response.  Maybe we all just need to become worse housekeepers (for once I'm ahead of the game!).

I expect our mask mandate to be around until a vaccine is available and spread is contained, so I expect to wear it that long.    We've never been the most socially active people so I expect we'll avoid large crowded gatherings even after that because we pretty much do anyway.  

[Spy Car]

11 minutes ago, Æthelflæd said:

The Hygiene Hypothesis simply posits that without exposure to varied and sundry pathogens during the course of child hood that the long term immune response is often compromised, and that things such as allergies, asthma and other respiratory conditions may be much more common, rather than no immunity exists. It is a Hypothesis, not a proven, obviously, so I was curious as to people's thoughts on it. This would involve more than masking as well- things like increased hand washing, use of sanitizers and widespread disinfectant use in schools and other institutions would presumptively play a part as well. Might be a separate conversation beyond masking. 

Discontinue using your Dupray steamer. Your germ biome will rebound in no time 

Bill

[The Ghost of Æthelthryth]

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Edited April 16, 2021 by Saxony

[The Ghost of Æthelthryth]

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Edited April 16, 2021 by Saxony

[Catwoman]

45 minutes ago, hopeallgoeswell said:

We are not wearing masks and will continue our trend after this has run its course...not seasonally...not while I zoom through the store...not when I have people over to my house...not while I watch a sports game outside...not for any other pathogens transmitted through aerosols and/or droplets.  If the IFR of a pathogen were much higher than the current ones in circulation, we probably wouldn't leave our house since masks/vaccines only protect to a certain extent.  If anyone in my family was immunocompromised, even before this, we most definitely would have been wearing N95 masks everywhere and requiring them for others who were around us.  I don't care if others want to do wear what ever face covering they find best fits their risk profile and don't think they should be ostracized for doing so.  We have never been the type to go-go-go everywhere and don't come into contact with many people other than in passing, and we homeschool, so when the rare occurrence comes around that someone is feeling even a bit under the weather, we all stay home and isolate.  On a tangential note: I do wish that the topic of overall health and immunity got just as much airtime as masks and vaccines.

Are you saying that you never mask, not even in stores or other indoor public places? Is there no mask requirement in your area? 

Please don’t take this question as snarky, because I would really like to know the answer... Are you not at all worried about you or a member of your family catching Covid? Do you regularly see any older or higher risk friends or family members? 

Also, if you were going to someone’s house and they specifically requested that you and your family wear masks, would you do it, or would you decline the invitation? 

Again, I’m just trying to understand your rationale. I’m not going to pick apart your answer and tell you that you’re wrong if you are nice enough to explain your thoughts on this. I mean, anyone who has read any of my posts knows that I’m pro-mask, but I’m doing my best to understand the other side of this issue, mainly because I have to admit that I’m having kind of unpleasant thoughts toward the people who are anti-mask, and I don’t like feeling that way about people I have always liked and respected in the past. I may never agree with the anti-mask position, but I would like to better understand it.

[The Ghost of Æthelthryth]

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Edited April 16, 2021 by Saxony

[Catwoman]

Just now, Æthelflæd said:

If you don't mind Bill, continuing off of this......For you and others willing to respond, now being well acquainted with the typical seasonal flu death rate, as well as severe season flu stats, and the groups most affected by seasonal flu, do you think you will be more likely to mask during flu season long term, even if Covid were no longer a concern in it's own right due to say a theoretical immunization or other method of widespread elimination (not eradication)? 

Yes, we will. 🙂 

[The Ghost of Æthelthryth]

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Edited April 16, 2021 by Saxony

[Spy Car]

1 minute ago, Æthelflæd said:

If you don't mind Bill, continuing off of this......For you and others willing to respond, now being well acquainted with the typical seasonal flu death rate, as well as severe season flu stats, and the groups most affected by seasonal flu, do you think you will be more likely to mask during flu season long term, even if Covid were no longer a concern in it's own right due to say a theoretical immunization or other method of widespread elimination (not eradication)? 

I have not thought that through. We have vaccines against the flu. Not perfect and based on the best guesses for the next season. Not sure how this pandemic will alter behaviors if--when--we get past this situation.

I hope we are not wearing masks forever. But for now it is a moral imperative in my estimation.

Bill

[Acadie]

3 minutes ago, Æthelflæd said:

If you don't mind Bill, continuing off of this......For you and others willing to respond, now being well acquainted with the typical seasonal flu death rate, as well as severe season flu stats, and the groups most affected by seasonal flu, do you think you will be more likely to mask during flu season long term, even if Covid were no longer a concern in it's own right due to say a theoretical immunization or other method of widespread elimination (not eradication)? 

Yes, I think mask wearing makes sense during flu season. And I thought so long before Covid--it just wasn't socially acceptable here! I'd wait for cases to begin to rise in my area/social circle, because I don't love masking. But I do love being healthy and supporting the health of my family, friends and acquaintances.

[Catwoman]

Just now, Æthelflæd said:

If you don't mind me asking- your dh has had long term health issues that compromised immunity iirc. Did you take masking precautions prior to this year during flu season, or was Covid the factor that resulted you in practicing masking long-term? 

Again, not trying to pry and please feel free not to answer. Just very curious about people's experiences and viewpoints. 

We were mostly staying home during flu season, and were masking when we were going to be in public (unless it was a 3am run to the grocery store where the only people there were us and the store manager!) 

We were very careful in the past, but I have now moved into the Crazy Lunatic Paranoid category. 😉 

[The Ghost of Æthelthryth]

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Edited April 16, 2021 by Saxony

[Spy Car]

Just now, Æthelflæd said:

If you don't mind me asking- your dh has had long term health issues that compromised immunity iirc. Did you take masking precautions prior to this year during flu season, or was Covid the factor that resulted you in practicing masking long-term? 

Again, not trying to pry and please feel free not to answer. Just very curious about people's experiences and viewpoints. 

I got my flu shot this year. I general do, but in a lackadaisical way. Our health group (Kaiser) is very [s]pushy[/s] affirmative when it comes to encouraging its membership to get seasonal flu shorts, and I'm generally compliant. This year I took the lead.

To that regard, the current situation has changed my consciousness. I also see it as a moral duty not to get sick from a preventable illness during a pandemic. I would not like for my reckless actions to rob someone of a hospital bed if--god forbid--I got sick with an illness a shot could have prevented. This is an emergency. Must act accordingly.

Bill

[The Ghost of Æthelthryth]

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Edited April 16, 2021 by Saxony

[prairiewindmomma]

3 minutes ago, Æthelflæd said:

The moral imperative line is one of the things that is interesting to me to discuss as to where people draw that line and what their threshold is. 

For me too.  I'm probably an outlier, but I think one should consider the moral duty to shield the "weak" among us. We've talked about this from various angles on the board before---should I go to church/co-op/etc if I have sick people in my home but I myself am not sick--but not specifically as a moral duty. One bumps into the practicalities of having to meet public school truancy laws or having to meet employment obligations....but I wonder if societal tolerance for sick people out in public will change. IME, a lot of people go out when ill. I have heard a crap ton of people tell me, "It's just allergies," when it's not. 

I personally hope that we will all be able to access paid sick leave and universal healthcare and greater access to sick childcare sometime in future generations---hopefully in my lifetime. I think accepting that all of us will fall ill at some point (and that things like getting a cold are normal, expected, and should be planned for) and planning for that practicality would actually benefit our economy and improve personal comfort in the long run.

[EmilyGF]

Before the pandemic, I wore a mask on an airplane in April 2019 because I needed to fly internationally at the tail end of a bad case of the flu. I was protecting others, not me.

Now, I mask and make masks for others.

In the future, I plan to mask when I meet with large groups of people in poorly ventilated areas. I don't like getting sick.

My sister enjoys that masks allow her to go to stores with mildew and mold without getting sick now. I think I may also mask when I go into older buildings.

Robert Redfield was forced to walk back his statement, but, if you listen to his comment in the video, it is clear he is thinking and not confused. Other events, like when only employees who wore face shields but not employees who work masks got sick at a Swiss hotel, offer insight into the protective benefits of masks.

Emily

[Guest]

I will be masking and requiring in-person students and family members mask in my classes/studio until there is a vaccine and I can get it, and will probably continue during cold/flu season. My state has never had a mask mandate, but I don’t think my county is likely to lift it any time soon. I am also planning to keep increased distance and not sharing the same piano and online lessons if anyone in the family is sick long-term. My kids are doing a great job handling their own materials and taking responsibility, and I think that is a good thing to continue as well. 
 

And I puffy heart LOVE grocery delivery. 

[EKS]

I think I will probably continue to mask in certain circumstances even after there is a vaccine, I've gotten it, and the numbers are way down.  

[EmilyGF]

14 minutes ago, EmilyGF said:

Before the pandemic, I wore a mask on an airplane in April 2019 because I needed to fly internationally at the tail end of a bad case of the flu. I was protecting others, not me.

Now, I mask and make masks for others.

In the future, I plan to mask when I meet with large groups of people in poorly ventilated areas. I don't like getting sick.

My sister enjoys that masks allow her to go to stores with mildew and mold without getting sick now. I think I may also mask when I go into older buildings.

Robert Redfield was forced to walk back his statement, but, if you listen to his comment in the video, it is clear he is thinking and not confused. Other events, like when only employees who wore face shields but not employees who work masks got sick at a Swiss hotel, offer insight into the protective benefits of masks.

Emily

ETA: Every time I say "Robert Redfield" I think of Robert Redford in the only movie I remember seeing him in, "The Way We Were." Man, that movie made me sob.

[Farrar]

47 minutes ago, happysmileylady said:

Thank you for this post.

I live in suburban midwest.  The idea that I *WILL* pass someone on the street at relatively close proximity in my general every day life is not something I deal with every day.  Today, I got in my car to go pick up milk, get gas, and mail something with tracking.  I saw no one as I got in my car, with my kids.  We certainly saw people in the grocery store, but we weren't there long and there weren't many people.  Maintaining social distancing is like never an issue in the store unless it's like noon on Saturday, here at least.  Getting gas...the pumps are 10ft apart.  At the post office.....I was the only customer in the building.  And I left my kids in the car.  Today, even with running errands, I encountered exactly ZERO people within 6 ft of me that weren't my own children.   And it's hard to imagine living in a place where such things aren't possible.  I mean, I *KNOW* those places exist.....but I that doesn't mean I have a full grasp on the reality of it.  

See... that's odd to me... how could you possibly get through grocery checkout without coming within 6 ft of someone. There's not a 6 foot berth in a grocery aisle (or maybe almost? barely?) so you seriously never see another person on the same aisle ever? I find this stretches my thinking a good bit. Like I said, my mom lives in a much smaller city with suberby parts. I ran two errands for my mom, I masked, everyone in the store masked. And thank goodness, because I certainly passed within 6 ft of people a few times - especially the cashier. I was thinking more in everyday life outside of stores. 

[SoCal_Bear]

I think areas with decent sized Asian populations will see masking on some level continue. The only reason why these populations didn't mask more prior to this is because of the strong social discouragement to mask even if they were used to doing so overseas. It's likely a lot more accepted in dense urban settings or specific settings like public transit because people know way more about droplet transmission than they did before. 

Edited October 6, 2020 by calbear

[EmilyGF]

2 minutes ago, calbear said:

I think areas with decent sized Asian populations will see masking on some level continue. The only reason why these populations didn't mask more prior to this is because of the strong social discouragement to mask even if they were used to doing so overseas. It's likely a lot more accepted in dense urban settings or specific settings like public transit because people know way more about droplet transmission than they did before. 

The kids and I have been reading about tuberculosis / MDR TB / XDR TB and we talk about whether we'll ever be on public transit without a mask again. Eeeeh.

[SereneHome]

I know this going to sound bad, but what the heck...

I don't need to know wear a mask. I stay home when I am sick and keep my kids home when they are sick. I stay away from people as much as I can. I don't touch my face in public and wash my hands when it's appropriate. But I wish everyone else would be masked indefinitely bc people are gross and selfish!!!

I can not tell you how many times we've had half of co-op getting sick bc one person would refuse to stay home. I can not tell you how many times I see snotty kids touching every surface everywhere they are. I can not tell you how many coworkers of mine (current and previous jobs) thought that they were winning super-hero awards by showing up sick.

So, yeah, I wish this masking thing would become a permanent flu season thing!!!!

 

[kirstenhill]

15 minutes ago, Farrar said:

See... that's odd to me... how could you possibly get through grocery checkout without coming within 6 ft of someone. There's not a 6 foot berth in a grocery aisle (or maybe almost? barely?) so you seriously never see another person on the same aisle ever? I find this stretches my thinking a good bit. Like I said, my mom lives in a much smaller city with suberby parts. I ran two errands for my mom, I masked, everyone in the store masked. And thank goodness, because I certainly passed within 6 ft of people a few times - especially the cashier. I was thinking more in everyday life outside of stores. 

Self check out allows you to have no contact with people.  They are becoming very common in my small midwestern city at grocery and big box stores. 

 

Eta..at check out at least.  And one way aisles in stores also reduces contact.  

Edited October 6, 2020 by kirstenhill

[Guest]

I have not read other replies yet. 

In terms of COVID, I plan to use masks when I am in high density situations and probably for all activities like shopping. Once COVID is subdued, I still think I may wear masks during flu season for all high density situations and shopping. I probably would not do this if literally nobody else does. 

I seriously question when I would I ever consider certain situations again so long as I live. Like cruise ships, for instance. *shudder*