Coronavirus prep

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  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 37,005 Member
    Theoldguy1 wrote: »
    Here, in Italy, some masks are becoming fashion statements. The guy at the coffee bar has a big black mustache on his. In Rome, most are wearing masks and there are no protests as in the States. Some refuse to wear one, but can't enter stores, or other establishments without. I would put forward that fashion is a huge motivator. If famous people started wearing them and were interviewed, I dare say things might change.

    I would suggest that most people not wearing masks couldn't give a rat's behind what some "influencer" (man I hate that word) or self-defined fashion expert wearing a mask was saying.

    I think you underestimate the power of pop culture to affect the behavior of some percentage of not-very-rational people. Every mask rebel? No, not every one. Not even a majority. But some. Just my opinion, obviously.

    I doubt we'll get a chance to test the proposition, though. :lol:
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Theoldguy1 wrote: »
    Here, in Italy, some masks are becoming fashion statements. The guy at the coffee bar has a big black mustache on his. In Rome, most are wearing masks and there are no protests as in the States. Some refuse to wear one, but can't enter stores, or other establishments without. I would put forward that fashion is a huge motivator. If famous people started wearing them and were interviewed, I dare say things might change.

    I would suggest that most people not wearing masks couldn't give a rat's behind what some "influencer" (man I hate that word) or self-defined fashion expert wearing a mask was saying.

    Oh yeh? Don't hang around young folks much, do you? ;)

    It's not really the young people here not complying...it's mostly middle age, "you can't take my freedoms" people. It has also stupidly become a big partisan politics thing.

    Our compliance is fairly high on all fronts, and numbers keep going down. But, in the beginning, when we started Lockdown, a goodly number of famous people--singers, actors, etc, did zooms, and other clips, explaining why it was necessary. This went on for several weeks. I think it set the tone for everyone. I don't like a lot of these people, and don't follow their lead, but it was helpful for a wide swath of the public. Does everyone here wear a mask--no. Does everyone wear it properly--no. But the majority (including myself) do. I'm noticing some fun masks as I go about Rome, and I think that helps.
    We will be wearing them when we go to the beach next week. There's a complicated procedure for access. Wear masks, temps taken, bracelet to be worn to register comings and goings, turnstile, no beach bar just vending machines, and umbrellas further apart. Masks are to be worn until you reach your umbrella and chairs. Only 4 adults under every umbrella. Either you do it, or no access. Same with stores. It's sort of like "no shirt, no shoes, no service".
  • MikePfirrman
    MikePfirrman Posts: 3,307 Member
    So, for background, in my county our floating average of daily cases has more than doubled, hospitalizations have more than doubled, and positivity rate has more than doubled. We are a hot spot in a hot state, getting worse daily.

    I did my two weeks shopping and chores for my own household and my mother today. I am so fed up and frustrated with people. We did a pickup at Kroger. As usual they didn’t bother to get half the stuff, so my husband had to go in, where the stuff they were supposedly out of was readily available on shelves. The guy who brought our stuff out wasn’t wearing a mask. Local ordinance says he has to. My husband asked where his mask was, and he said, “Oh, they want us to wear them, but I’m not worried about it. I don’t feel sick and I haven’t been anywhere.”

    So my husband had to have a talk with his manager. Who claimed to be appalled. But then he spotted the same manager talking to a stocker with his mask over his chin. Zero masks on customers.

    Next, Walgreens. Masks on everyone working there, but chin only. No masks on customers.

    Then trying to get an octagenerian to operate zoom. We got my mom hooked up, then realized all the friends she is trying to zoom with are octagenarians too. So had to provide tech support for half a dozen different people. My mom’s thing is forgetting all her passwords and resetting them after being locked out for entering them wrong. So she has a book for all her different passwords. Which has no indication of which password does which thing. She seems to think they are interchangeable. That took a good three hours.

    Then the gas station. They have fried chicken there and I suggested some as a treat, since we were half past fed up. My husband came out complaining that he was literally bumped into by 18 different people, none wearing masks except one construction worker. I said that if that was the case he should have just left, and he said he didn’t want to disappoint me. I said I would rather be disappointed than dead. At least the chicken and the people who made it were behind plexiglas.

    Our mayor has said we are not dropping back to phase 1, because what would be the point when people aren’t even following phase 2? He said that without community buy-in, there aren’t enough cops in the world to enforce proper behavior. And that the community seemed to think covid came with an off switch, that when they entered phase 2 everyone just stopped trying.

    I just would prefer not to die, please, and no one else seems all that interested in helping me stay alive. Grrrrrrrrr.

    I'm sorry you had such a day but that part made me giggle. My wife is 59 and is the same way!
  • T1DCarnivoreRunner
    T1DCarnivoreRunner Posts: 11,502 Member
    ythannah wrote: »
    It's interesting, we're seeing a lot of the same arguments that came up when public places and private businesses all started to ban smoking. People lamented about their personal freedoms and said "If I want to take the risk, then that's my business and my right."

    How was it when seat belt use became mandatory in automobiles? Were there contingents running around stamping their feet and complaining that their freedom to splatter themselves on pavement at high velocity was being taken away?

    Is anyone old enough to remember? :D I was pretty young when it became law here so I wouldn't have been aware of any backlash.

    I'm not old enough to remember that, but have seen that same thing where motorcycle helmets are not required. As soon as someone suggests they should be required, people throw a fit and demand the right to go without a helmet. They also go crazy if someone suggests that if given an option, they should bear responsibility if they are injured - such as that they can choose not to wear a helmet, but waive the right to sue for damages by not wearing a helmet.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,184 Member
    ythannah wrote: »
    It's interesting, we're seeing a lot of the same arguments that came up when public places and private businesses all started to ban smoking. People lamented about their personal freedoms and said "If I want to take the risk, then that's my business and my right."

    How was it when seat belt use became mandatory in automobiles? Were there contingents running around stamping their feet and complaining that their freedom to splatter themselves on pavement at high velocity was being taken away?

    Is anyone old enough to remember? :D I was pretty young when it became law here so I wouldn't have been aware of any backlash.

    Yes, I remember people who complained that their freedom was being taken away by seatbelt laws. And by helmet laws (both motorcycle and bicycle). By the national 50 mph speed limit when that was imposed for a few years. And of course by laws against smoking in restaurants and other buildings.
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    I am also seeing here (in Italy) advertising on TV for products, especially foods, have people wearing masks. Since there is the famous "herd mentality" then the more people that wear them--the more people will wear them. As I've mentioned our numbers keep going down. There are a few clusters, that are quickly isolated, with the majority of cases still in the North.
    I am saddened by all your reports from the States. This means that you'll have to live with the fear of catching the virus much longer. I'll be leaving soon for the summer, and will report in in September. I hope to hear that the situation in the States has gotten better.
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    ythannah wrote: »
    It's interesting, we're seeing a lot of the same arguments that came up when public places and private businesses all started to ban smoking. People lamented about their personal freedoms and said "If I want to take the risk, then that's my business and my right."

    How was it when seat belt use became mandatory in automobiles? Were there contingents running around stamping their feet and complaining that their freedom to splatter themselves on pavement at high velocity was being taken away?

    Is anyone old enough to remember? :D I was pretty young when it became law here so I wouldn't have been aware of any backlash.
    I remember when younger men made a point of fastening the belt, then sitting on it, so it looked fastened if a cop drove by. Just as with masks, more men were like this than women.
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    ythannah wrote: »
    It's interesting, we're seeing a lot of the same arguments that came up when public places and private businesses all started to ban smoking. People lamented about their personal freedoms and said "If I want to take the risk, then that's my business and my right."

    How was it when seat belt use became mandatory in automobiles? Were there contingents running around stamping their feet and complaining that their freedom to splatter themselves on pavement at high velocity was being taken away?

    Is anyone old enough to remember? :D I was pretty young when it became law here so I wouldn't have been aware of any backlash.
    I remember when younger men made a point of fastening the belt, then sitting on it, so it looked fastened if a cop drove by. Just as with masks, more men were like this than women.

    When the seat belt law was passed here, there was a lot of resistance. It was passed long after the USA. In Naples they made t shirts with seatbelts stamped on them to avoid fines.
  • ElioraFR
    ElioraFR Posts: 91 Member
    Many people felt uncomfortable with the seat belt, especially when the over shoulder part came in. Many people refused to wear them in my parents generation. Some people would take the shoulderpart and put it over their shoulders and not latch it so they could go without. I don't think that proves anything much, just the facts about how humans are sometimes.

    Death Wishes maybe? maybe that is what makes some people refuse to do the things mandated to keep us alive.