and I will continue to do so until all this is over.

I've had both vaccinations, but I'm still going to keep wiping things down and keep washing my hands — which I've always done anyway.

Why some people think it's some kind of "trick of the Devil," I'll never know.

I'll keep wearing a mask because it's my civic duty.

I worry about bad breath, so . . .

At what point do vaccinated people stop wearing masks in general around people who refuse to take the vaccine? Do vaccinated people have an obligation to the wilfully unvaccinated?

I worry about the people who for whatever reason can't get the vaccine (the immunocompromised and children.) I also would like to see the percentage of vaccinated people be higher before I personally feel comfortable removing my mask.

I'll follow the rules, which'll probably mean generally going maskless except under the fairly frequent imposition of rules at my local gym, certain retail outlets, and elsewhere.

It's a question of respect for others.

Headline : "We've now reached the 'Ricky Schroder harassing Costco employees' phase of the pandemic"

Is that any way for good Mormon boy to act?

I never watched "Silver Spoons", but the name faintly rung a bell so googled said. What a jackass. Washed up hack, lured into Mo'dom by his wife, and berating a poor Costco employee. Way to Class it up there Ricky! (Idiot!)

I don't mind wearing one. It only takes a couple of seconds to put on/take off. I think they should be required during flu season.

In the future I will wear a mask if I have a cold or the flu so I don't spread it to others. I hope others will do the same. Maybe it will be the new norm.

I hate the masks. Let me be frank about that. They are a pain generally and especially when working out.

But in a crisis we have to pull together, putting individual needs behind those of society in general. It's a question of basic civic responsibility.

Like babies wearing diapers, right?

That's how you feel about your nappies? Thank heaven, then, for your precociously strong sense of civic responsibility!

But I have a really good reason for wanting to keep wearing one and I think I've mentioned it before.

I got dentures in December and it has been a pain in the ass. Like one of the stories someone posted about being in the temple and one of the old guys had his dentures fall out while talking, I fear things like that. So I prefer to wear the mask while I continue to adapt to dentures (if I ever do). No, I don't want implants. I've had 3 people close to me have to have them removed for infection and had to go back to dentures.

But I don't mind wearing a mask. Seems weird not to.

I don't mind them. Less makeup!

Overall, the U.S. appears to be doing a good job with 47% of residents having at least one dose. Globally the numbers are more sobering with only 8.7% of our world's people having at least one dose.

The U.S. state with the best vaccination rate is New Hampshire, with nearly 85% having one dose. Much of the deep south is lagging, along with Idaho and Wyoming.

https://i1.wp.com/politicallyincorrecthumor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/fauci-did-recommend-two-masks-bra.jpg?w=480&ssl=1

https://i2.wp.com/politicallyincorrecthumor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/dog-sit-shits-damn-mask.jpg?w=498&ssl=1



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/17/2021 01:59AM by caffiend.

Sometimes I like wearing a mask, too.

--Funny how we haven't had any colds or other flus, in all this time.
--2/3 of the people who are maskless in our spaces, are not vaccinated.
--A mask keeps children from sneezing in my face.
--It keeps our giant lab puppy from licking me on the mouth.
--If I have to run a quick errand, it's faster to put on a mask than lipstick and makeup.
--Instead of lathering on the sunscreen, I just put on a mask.
--Right, it does help with bad breath, only I'm not the one with bad breath.
--I can go places in my sweats, and slippers, in shorts, or with wild-looking hair, because no one can recognize me to criticize me.
--I love that I can go back to the supermarket in our Mormon neighborhood, in disguise, and not be shunned. I don't have to talk to anyone. I pretend I'm someone else, or pretend to not recognize people in their masks. I actually enjoy distancing 6 from nasty Mormons 6 feet--or an even greater distance. I own my space and my privacy. No one has told me to read the Book of Mormon in over a year!
--I'll wear a mask around children until they are all vaccinated, or until we get herd immunity.
--And until there aren't 700 American covid deaths every day. ---And until India recovers.
--And untill there aren't any new variants....

I'll wear a mask in crowds, on planes, in tightly-packed classrooms and theaters, in stinky unventilated places--maybe forever. I was really tired of getting sick all the time. Most people in Utah are inconsiderate, and don't care if they spread their diseases to you. If sick kids decide to hug me or sit in my lap, I can relax and be more responsive to them. When I taught Primary, I loved the children, but I used to get sick every week. By Wednesday, the cold or flu would hit me. I would have to find a substitute for the next Sunday, then I would go back and teach the Sunday after that and get sick with yet another disease, and be out for another week, and so on. A mask might have helped me spread these colds to my family at home. I finally quit Primary. The piano and organ were safer.

To me, a mask means freedom and privacy.

...and safety.

Thanks Mother Who Knows. As you point out, there’s good reason to wear a mask going forward in public places, period.

Just common sense stuff, and privacy.

When masks are outlawed, only outlaws will have masks.

Pre-Covid I used to get 2 to 3 colds a year, and at 70 now they would linger for 3 to 4 weeks vs when I was younger 2 weeks max

Since I've been wearing a mask out in public now, I can't even remember the last time I had a cold

So, I've been thinking I might just do the mask thing for the rest of my life

Those colds also strengthened your immune system by keeping it active. A big danger from all this isolation and quarantining is that people's immunity is now weakened. You can expect a tsunami of non-Covid infections as people get used to being together again.

People who've just left Antarctic research stations, or remote islands or even way out in the boondocks moving to the city end up getting dozens of minor infections in the first few weeks of leaving isolation.

Total bullshit

Dave the Atheist Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Total bullshit

Thanks for the insightful response.

Howard Hughes, and even Michael Jackson, destroyed a lot of their immunity by going into isolation for long periods. It is no coincidence that allergies have increased since children started to be raised indoors in practically sealed environments.

Children are supposed to get minor infections early on to get immunity to them and build up their immune system. If they are isolated from other kids they cannot catch them. It's better to get chickenpox when you're young than shingles when you are older.

Sammy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> It's better to get chickenpox when you're young than shingles
> when you are older.

Shingles is caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox. Here's what the Mayo Clinic says about it:


https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/shingles/symptoms-causes/syc-20353054



"Shingles is caused by the varicella-zoster virus — the same virus that causes chickenpox. After you've had chickenpox, the virus lies inactive in nerve tissue near your spinal cord and brain. Years later, the virus may reactivate as shingles."

_____

So, it's not an either/or situation. If you have had chickenpox you can get shingles, unfortunately. That's why there's a vaccine against shingles that is recommended for people 50 and over (two doses).

Children can receive the chickenpox vaccine, which cuts down the incidence of a full-blown case of the pox but, unfortunately, does not prevent shingles in later life.

Dave the Atheist Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Total bullshit
Damn I hate it when I agree with you like now



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/17/2021 10:45AM by thedesertrat1.

Dave the Atheist Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Total bullshit

Yup. Steaming pile at that.

Teachers tend to build strong immune systems over time, but it takes being exposed to illness for years to get to that point. It's not something that happens quickly or easily. So I could see the point of wearing masks in public during cold and flu season as people do in Asia. Looking back, if I had worn a mask while riding the packed NYC subways, it might have saved me from a whole lot of misery.

In March 2020, two days before our first lockdown in France, we were booked with my (adult) daughters to see a much-lauded Leonardo da Vinci exhibition at the Louvre. We didn't actually enjoy it much because it was a total scrum and difficult to see anything but, as we came out, we noticed large numbers of Asians all wearing masks and joked that they were being paranoid.

The "joke" was, of course, on us.

Since March 13th 2020, I haven't been outside my garden without a mask (except in my car and with trusted, sensible people). I suspect we'll be living like this for years, if not the rest of my life. But we have very good lives in the US, Canada and Europe, even compared with our grandparents, what with advances in medicine and, in Europe and Canada, at least, the much-expanded access to it.

Wearing a mask occasionally seems a small price to pay to preserve that.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/17/2021 01:55PM by Soft Machine.

I too shall continue to wear a mask and be careful until this is "all over" (whatever that means...). And the only way to bring that end closer is... to get vaccinated and continue to wear a mask.

And there's another advantage to add to the list: I don't have to shave when I go to work :-)

Talk about a concept getting out of hand!!!
In my opinion the mask thing has taken on a life of it's own!
I personally do not care if you wear one or not



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/17/2021 10:41AM by thedesertrat1.

What I am waiting to see, with popcorn, is for the oppositionists to begin fastidiously in rebellion suddenly and religiously donning masks ;-D

I wish that mask wearing had been mandatory years before we even heard of Coronavirus.

When I began employment at a health center clinic, I got very sick with upper respiratory illnesses. There was a time when I was out for 2 weeks, and I had just started working there.

It took time to build up immunity to all the inconsiderate sick patients that would come in and cough right in your face.

We who worked at the Front Desk, had begged management to put up clear plastic shields, but they refused to do it because they didn't want us to "look unfriendly".

When I worked in Internal Medicine, a patient came in for lab work. Management knew why she was coming in for lab work, but didn't bother to inform myself or my co-worker. We checked her in and she was only about a foot away from us and coughing. She was positive for Tuberculosis and only then, did they let us know, and then put us on a Z-pack.

We were very lucky that we didn't catch Tuberculosis from that damn patient.

I don't mind wearing a mask for awhile in crowded situations, even though I'm fully vaccinated, because you just never know.

When we were in a packed movie theatre some years ago, this man directly behind us was coughing every few minutes. Sure enough, a couple days later, we got sick.

I'll wear a mask during the Autumn and Winter months, just for peace of mind.

I have a couple in each vehicle and I will wear one in public until such time as I get my second vaccination, Alberta health relaxes its regulations...and my daughter in law who is working the Covid front line as an RN tells me it's safe to stop wearing one.

> I have a couple in each
> vehicle and I will wear
> one in public ...


For a brief moment, I thought I was in the gun thread!

Hehe

Nobody carrying handguns up here EOD other than the cops and amoured car guards.

Wow. It must be difficult living enslaved to a tyrannical communist government that has no respect for the liberties on which true happiness is based.

I'll pray for you, Ron.

It's always worked for me.

I'm a school nurse who hasn't caught ANYTHING from the sweet little germ bags I work with.

Thank you masks.

Seventeen months without even a cold.

I'll be sad to see masks go.

I don't like wearing masks. Fortunately, my lifestyle doesn't require me to wear them often. I'm at home most of the time. Here in Germany, it was never required to wear them outside, unless you're in a crowded area, which I never am. I have a feeling that people here will be delighted to be rid of them, although people around here mostly follow the rules.

I get my second shot on June 9th. I look forward to it, since we have been locked down since November.

Most of the time when I'm out walking, there's hardly anyone around, but it's nice to have one available when people do appear, and frankly, when I've put it on, I'm not going to keep taking it off.

The other day we drove through the center of our small town, and damned if people weren't all over the place at all of the restaurants and filling the sidewalks - some masked, some not. There was a line a block long to get into the hip place. As my spouse said, it looked like a beach town in high season.

You can be sure I won't be going anywhere near there - mask or not.

Tyson



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/17/2021 01:45PM by Tyson Dunn.

Yes. It's only sensible. Being sensible used to be considered a universal value, even if it isn't always as widespread as would be ideal.

It doesn't seem to be universal any more.

I am proud to announce a new line of apparel, under the brand name, Fuddy-Duddy.

The only sure way you can tell who is wearing Fuddy-Duddy brand clothing is by their attitudes!!!

Fuddy-Duddys RULE!

Fuddy-Duddy guys, all the other men want to be like you!

Fuddy-Duddy gals, 88% of the men want you to like them!


Mention my name and pay double!

I like wearing a mask, makes me feel invisible when I'm in a crowd.

Another bonus: lip readers remain clueless

keep you safe plus help you blend into the crowd after you rob a bank.

While masks aren't the most comfortable thing to wear, I still wear one. Helps that I'm used to wearing masks over my face; I live in an area with high pollen, every summer we have poor air quality from wildfire smoke, and I got in the habit of wearing a mask when I had a cold or flu years before COVID (I heard about wearing a mask when sick to keep from infecting others and I thought it was a good idea).

Now that we are fully vax’d I don’t even care if I catch COVID, since it’s no worse than the flu if you are vaccinated and you likely gain antibodies once you catch it that you don’t get from injection, since a ton of vaccinated people are still catching it. So I’m not wearing a mask unless it says I have to on the front door.
I will do everything in my power to get to herd immunity ASAP.
If we lose a few anti-science people getting there, c’est la vie, no?

No, you're not alone. Oh, there are minor issues like forgetting one, working out at the gym with one kinda sucks, etc.

But I, and everyone in my household, has worn one because: I'm not a moron, don't believe in conspiracy bullshit, do believe in science, and even though an atheist think the "love thy neighbor thing" isn't a bad idea idea. You know, having at least a minimal concern for community well-being; what a thought!

To the mouth-breathers who think they are being "patriotic" for not; no, you're at best a self-adsorbed ass, at worse a mentally defective crackpot. Thanks for playing.

P.S. We're fully vaccinated at this point, so will be a non-issue real soon. Too bad the wingnut crew is holding back herd immunity. (sigh)

Wow. Inflammatory description of an adamant view. What can I say but

+1?

Sorry for the "inflammatory", I suppose. Just really tired of all the anti-science bullshit in our society. I've lost a number family members and colleagues to this damn pandemic.

Had another elderly family member, who was/is an anti-mask/anti-vax type, in the hospital hooked up on a ventilator and heavily medicated in the past few weeks; thank goodness he's still with us, despite his decisions.

The morons that keep calling this a "hoax" can't get that this position is now as about as tenable, and charming, as holocaust denial.

I was being ironic. I share your feelings.

I think the biggest disappointment of this pandemic was in seeing the selfishness of too many of my fellow U.S. citizens. It seems to me that (before the vaccinations came along,) it really wasn't too much to ask them to wear a mask when in close quarters with strangers, and to socially distance. Yet many people treated mask wearing like some sort of grave personal offense.

Personally, I think those people did a lot of damage to this country. I will never view my country in quite the same way again. There are too many self-involved brats here.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/18/2021 06:56AM by summer.

“I have always found it quaint and rather touching that there is a movement [Libertarians] in the US that thinks Americans are not yet selfish enough.”

― Christopher Hitchens


Mr Hitchins (RIP) did have a way with words.

I have never seen a response to the question "why is a mask requirement any different from any of the thousands of other health and safety laws in the US?" People tend to act insulted when even presented with the question. But they don't answer it.

I mean, you wear shoes in restaurants without actually knowing how it makes food service safer. You stop at red lights, and drive on the right side of the road, and wear seatbelts, all limits on your liberty.


Second, everyone (or at least everyone's lawyers) realize there is no constitutional issue involved. If there were, they would go to court, have mask mandates declared unconstitutional infringements on liberty, and be done with it. That is not what they are doing. They go to city council and school board meetings and try to scare politicians witless, that being the only card they have to play to stop mask mandates.


Third, if a business requires masking, regardless of government mandate, that is simply free-market capitalism at work. Business should be free to do whatever they think appropriate to serve their customers and employees. That is supposedly a Republican core value.


And hopefully there is a special place in hell for people who delay airline flights or cause an unscheduled landing to be removed from the plane because of disruptive behavior, whether regarding masks or other issues. I know their wallets take a serious hit.

Actually, I don’t see masks as akin to seatbelts at all. It’s never been safe to ride in a car without one, and I doubt we will ever be rid of them unless cars are somehow made obsolete.

Breathing unmasked, on the other hand, has only been considered deadly for the past 14 months. And I hope the masks aren’t permanent, because they do cause legitimate issues for some people... like anyone who needs to read lips or makes a living using their face... singers or orators or actors... they inhibit communication and make things like eating and drinking more challenging. A good deal of communication is non verbal, so covering the face makes socializing harder.

I also know someone who had to be hospitalized for cellulitis because he neglected to change his mask regularly. Having once had facial cellulitis myself, it’s not an experience I would wish on anyone.

I get that the masks are important for now, but they aren’t something I want to have to wear for the rest of my life. If other people want to, I have no problem with that. I would never give someone a hard time for choosing to wear a mask. It’s not my business. By the same token, I don’t want to be harassed about my choices either. I do follow the rules, though, and will for as long as it’s required.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/18/2021 10:29AM by knotheadusc.

Your post only makes BoJ's excellent post ring truer.

When you say, "I get that the masks are important for now, but they aren’t something I want to have to wear for the rest of my life. If other people want to, I have no problem with that . . ." You are failing to understand that the unvaccinated maskless are the dangers to all of us and your "feelings on the subject" don't change that.

Some people are empathetic team players and some are not.

I wonder how it would have been if there was another way to staunch the spread of the virus that was not visible-and judge-able...

People habitually assess others via memes, bumper stickers, t-shirts, etc.

Masks allow people to quickly determine ‘friend or foe’.

The nice thing about wearing a mask all last year is I didn’t get sick the past year, not even a cold.