Shanghai Disneyland will close in effort to contain coronavirus

I guess. That's not really what I mean.

The impression is that Florida was a free-for-all in regards to mitigation and compliance and whatnot.

If one were to ask me, I'd say nothing could be further from the truth. I was legitimately surprised by the number of masks I saw. Hell, I still had to go through getting my temperature taken to enter the Lucid showroom.

If you want a raw truth bomb, I'm really not any more concerned about the number of people hospitalized for COVID than I am for the number people hospitalized with the flu each season.

I definitely notice that I'm not as worried about being around other people, but that's a process that will probably take a little time, and one I'll get used to gradually.

I'm inclined to continue to wear a mask for short-term, semi-crowded indoor situations (grocery shopping, etc.) I don't find it to be particularly inconvenient, and Michigan is still a hot spot so it seems reasonable.

I think this is still a requirement, but even if it is not, I would be inclined to continue wearing a mask in airports/on planes and the like---those are places where a lot of people from a lot of different places come together.

In both cases, I'll be a little less worried if I have to scratch my nose/want to grab a bite to eat/whatever.

I don't have plans to visit an amusement park this summer---at least, not yet. Our vacations are currently set up to be outdoor-focused where distancing will be fairly easy (Northern Michigan for hiking/kayaking, Park City for hiking/bobsledding, and Maui + Kauai for, well, Hawaii). For those, I don't expect to wear a mask much except, again, for indoor shopping etc. I'm not quite ready for indoor dining, but outdoor dining is a-ok at this point. There is an outside chance that we will go to Lagoon when we are in Utah, but not really sure. I'm guessing probably not.

I've still had a neck gaiter when I'm running that I'd pull up when going by other folks, but I think it's probably time to let that one go. It's not that hard to avoid people--at least, not when I am out and about.

Texas bans government and public authorities from requiring masks, but exempted school districts until June 4:

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2021/05/18/politics/texas-abbott-mask-manda...ssion=true

Jeff - Just curious, why do you think you should wear a mask if you're fully vaccinated?

Me - Really?

OhioStater - Really. What's the point?

Jeff - I'm not sure I really want to interact with humans face to face in general, regardless of disease.

Vater - I feel like I'm witnessing the beginning of a shift from calling out non-mask wearers idiots to calling vaccinated mask wearers idiots. Weird.

Jeff - I hope not. That would be uncalled for. It may not make sense to me, but it certainly doesn't hurt anyone.

So besides me being a smartass and showing you answering your own question, the non-smartass answer is that pure mathematics say that in a day at a theme park I'm going to be in close proximity to plenty who have not been vaxed and may be carriers.

There's this bit on "breakthrough" cases https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/effectiveness/wh...cases.html

Yes, I fully admit to being paranoid.

Yes, I fully admit that I hate being sick. I haven't been sick since 2019 yet I work in crowded airports and airplanes surrounded by hundreds of people wearing masks. I believe masks work and have no problem wearing them in crowded situations, such as at work or at parks. That being said, I still consider myself reasonable on when I should and shouldn't wear mine. I won't wear it on the midway (unless required,) I may or may not wear it in the store (unless required) depending on how crowded it is.

Yeah, may be carriers, combined with you being extremely unlikely to contract the disease. In the event of a breakthrough infection, so far the data shows generally mild illness and zero hospitalization or death. As far as risk goes, I imagine there are a great many things riskier that you're already doing. You do you, and I wouldn't call it paranoid, but I wouldn't call it very rational either.

And the interacting with humans, if it weren't obvious, was sarcasm.

For what its worth, when I went to Cedar Point on Sunday, I wore my mask all day, save for eating or drinking.

a) I haven't had quite enough time to be fully vaccinated yet. I have received my vaccine doses, but am not yet two weeks past my booster shot.

b) I guess I'm not fully comfortable in large crowds without one just yet, and some of those lines pack people in.

Vater said:

I feel like I'm witnessing the beginning of a shift from calling out non-mask wearers idiots to calling vaccinated mask wearers idiots. Weird.

Yeah, we were really quick to start all of this because science, but now we are very slow to stop all of this even though, science.

In all of you guys-es defense, in doing a bit of reading while formulating my lengthy answer above, I did discover that the news is better than I thought. For example, I started typing out that someone can still absolutely give me Covid but the symptoms will just be milder. Turns out that's not totally true, except in the case of "breakouts." Of course, that CDC page I linked did say that Breakouts could still potentially kill you, though the odds are extremely small.

I am legitimately concerned about the large amounts of unvaxed people still, but like I said, mostly just in crowded areas. Like long lines with switchbacks.

Oh, and Jeff, you may have been sarcastic about "not wanting to interact face to face with humans in general," but I'm totally serious. Hahaha.

I don't expect I will be a vaccinated mask wearer...but I'm not sure that would be the worst thing in the world. The numbers for the seasonal flu are at an all time low...because of the masks. Maybe I won't wear a mask regularly but I might consider wearing a mask on a plane in the future...even if they are not required.

As for Florida the "free for all" mentality wasn't all over the state. The most populous region, here in the southeast part of the state, had mask mandates up until just a couple of weeks ago when the Governor restricted our authority to have them. In all likelihood that mitigated the disaster. We also have a tremendous healthcare system of hospitals in South Florida and they were able to sustain the worst of the pandemic much better than other regions of the country. And, we had the opportunity to be outside all winter which certainly helped with our transmission rates.

Everyone wants to simplify this whole situation but there are so many variables involved that you simply cannot fairly compare different parts of the state let alone different parts of the country.

Lord Gonchar said:

Everyone wants to simplify this whole situation but there are so many variables involved that you simply cannot fairly compare different parts of the state let alone different parts of the country.

I agree with this. Been true the whole time. But some people only selectively see it.

The potential consequence of ignoring it a year ago is doing pretty significant harm to yourself or other people. The potential consequence of ignoring it now is being ever so slightly but unnecessarily uncomfortable wearing a mask.

It seems to me that one of those wins pretty handily (ha!) in an arm wrestling match, but what do I know.

Absolutely. No harm, no foul.

But ultimately, you're disagreeing with expert opinion either way and listening to the experts was a major argument point.

If it wasn't mandated, I would have burned my masks the second I was beyond the vaccination grace period. Which is weird, because I'm possibly more afraid for my kids now than I was before (as previously documented).

I've been thinking about that and one other thing that contributes to my concern (beyond the aforementioned Targets and Starbucks moving to the honor system) is the reopening of indoor places my kids will be required to be which may or may not be on the honor system: school and church in particular, but airplanes and public transit as well. Two weeks ago we were doing church with 3 other masked people (tech and music). By the end of the month, we will be doing church with 50 other people who may or may not be honest about their vaccination status when they take off their masks. Maybe the science says I'm wrong to worry about that, but if it does I haven't seen it.

Play the do-you-really-want-to-lie-in-church-about-this card with them. Checkmate.

Oh, you'd be surprised. Or maybe not. The whole politicization of things has made people really crazy. My wife had people scream at her over the phone and say she was "being dumb" because she wore a mask on a Zoom call (from the sanctuary, as mandated by county regulations). Lying is just the tip of the iceberg.

Lord Gonchar said:

But ultimately, you're disagreeing with expert opinion either way and listening to the experts was a major argument point.

Not exactly: Listening to the experts about how not to kill other people was the major argument point. It's asymmetric.

I knew that was coming. I got nothing.

It's the same argument - one is potentially dangerous to whatever degree the other isn't to any degree.

I stand by my take - I don't see irrational fear in the face of expert advice as any different than irrational bravado in the face of expert advice. You're doing what you feel is right regardless of what people who know better suggest. (which admittedly is a different, but related, argument)

It's equally irrational with different stakes.

You spent the last four years suggesting that moral equivalence arguments weren't a thing too. 🙂