How Is Covid-19 Impacting Life in Your City?

[Crawford]

Why are people so offended if others wear masks? I'll never get it. Do they get similarly outraged if someone is wearing socks with sandals, or maybe a long-sleeved shirt on a hot day? It's bizarre.

Some people will probably be wearing masks indefinitely, for a variety of reasons. They might want to protect the unvaxed and high risk populations, maybe they want to put employees at ease, maybe they're women and just didn't want to deal with putting on makeup. Deal with it.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Why are people so offended if others wear masks? I'll never get it. Do they get similarly outraged if someone is wearing socks with sandals, or maybe a long-sleeved shirt on a hot day? It's bizarre.

Some people will probably be wearing masks indefinitely, for a variety of reasons. They might want to protect the unvaxed and high risk populations, maybe they want to put employees at ease, maybe they're women and just didn't want to deal with putting on makeup. Deal with it.

It’s not offensive to me in the least. It just looks so silly when done outdoors in uncrowded environments.
It betrays irrational fear and borderline mental illness.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

It’s not offensive to me in the least. It just looks so silly when done outdoors in uncrowded environments.
It betrays irrational fear and borderline mental illness.

Someone has "borderline mental illness" if their public health and attire choices don't meet your approval?

There are plenty of perfectly logical reasons why someone would wear a mask (or at least have one handy) indefinitely, even if risk of Covid transmission were near-zero. They might be entering crowded environments, they might be sick, they might worry about the health of others. Many women like masks because they don't have to put on their face, and they're less likely to get hassled by jerks.

[TWAK]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Someone has "borderline mental illness" if their public health and attire choices don't meet your approval?

It's their choice to do it and it's not hurting anybody...they are the same ones that yell at employees who still wear their masks due to company policy.

There are plenty of perfectly logical reasons why someone would wear a mask (or at least have one handy) indefinitely, even if risk of Covid transmission were near-zero. They might be entering crowded environments, they might be sick, they might worry about the health of others. Many women like masks because they don't have to put on their face, and they're less likely to get hassled by jerks.

The only way is to ask, but what type of Karen would go around asking "WHY ARE YOU WEARING A MASK?".

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

Why are people so offended if others wear shorts in the city? I'll never get it.

Well, some pasty legs can be highly offensive and reflective. hahah

[Buckeye Native 001]

My job requires me to be in and out of jails, healthcare/treatment facilities and homeless shelters. I still wear a mask for those reasons, but I'm also taking an immunosuppressant medication because my body hates me.

I also wear shorts when it's hot (like right now) so I'm apparently constantly offending someone, somewhere by being me. I'm sorry?

[eschaton]

I'm basically over the COVID pandemic. I keep a mask tucked in my back pocket when I enter stores, but less and less are enforcing the mask mandate, and I've been fully vaccinated for a month now, so I don't use it much any longer, and I feel comfortable doing basically everything I used to do.

My wife is one of those people who is taking awhile to get "back to normal" though - despite being vaccinated. She is doing a lot more than she used to do. During the pandemic I did all of the shopping, and now she feels comfortable going into stores. I even got her to go out to eat with me twice a few weeks ago - outdoors mind you. But she masks up still indoors way more than I do. She's been invited to a happy hour tomorrow for a coworker who is leaving, and she told me today she's not sure if she will go because she still feels uncomfortable being around so many people indoors.

I mean, what can I say as her husband? Yes, it's somewhat irrational, but pointing out the irrationality of it won't cause her to "snap out of it." And if I can't do it as her husband, a total stranger would have absolutely no effect.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Someone has "borderline mental illness" if their public health and attire choices don't meet your approval?

There are plenty of perfectly logical reasons why someone would wear a mask (or at least have one handy) indefinitely, even if risk of Covid transmission were near-zero. They might be entering crowded environments, they might be sick, they might worry about the health of others. Many women like masks because they don't have to put on their face, and they're less likely to get hassled by jerks.

I personally don't care anymore just as long I'm not forced to wear mine but it's usually younger/ healthy people wearing them. Some people do (and should) wear them if they are elderly and/or have health issues but for many, it has become a political statement..or they're so paranoid after 15 months of media sensationalism.

[TWAK]

Originally Posted by JManc

I personally don't care anymore just as long I'm not forced to wear mine but it's usually younger/ healthy people wearing them. Some people do (and should) wear them if they are elderly and/or have health issues but for many, it has become a political statement..or they're so paranoid after 15 months of media sensationalism.

A study/poll/survey is needed....or I feel we will be speculating this forever, especially if companies or people do it in the fall during flu season!
Technically I shouldn't be posting in this thread because of the whole being open thing

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

Why are people so offended if others wear shorts in the city? I'll never get it.

On the rare days when it's warm enough, lots of people wear shorts in SF and lots of people are still wearing masks now, even outdoors--far more than I would have expected.

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by JManc

I personally don't care anymore just as long I'm not forced to wear mine but it's usually younger/ healthy people wearing them. Some people do (and should) wear them if they are elderly and/or have health issues but for many, it has become a political statement..or they're so paranoid after 15 months of media sensationalism.

As I've said a few times before, I'm keeping mine handy and not just for covid. They've demonstrated their usefulness in preventing respiratory illness via the flu statistics. You seem to live in a quasi-suburban area where you don't ride public transit and get in crowds much and in that lifestyle I probably wouldn't wear one much either. When I was in AZ I rarely wore one even last winter (the one exception--for a few minutes while inside a store, especially grocery stores which tended to be more crowded than others and where you usually had to wait in line to check out).

But in the downtown area of a city, where I live now, there are a significant number of situations where a variety of respiratory illnesses can be spread and the mask is now a tool of urban survival for me.

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Ha, I was at a park the other day and a couple was walking in the park, outdoors, no people near them, wearing masks. You’re free to do dumb things, and I’m free to laugh at how idiotic you look.

By calling it "idiotic" you are demonstrating that it bothers you and the question is, "Why should it? Why should you care?" The lost likely answer seems to be political as others have said.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Someone has "borderline mental illness" if their public health and attire choices don't meet your approval?

There are plenty of perfectly logical reasons why someone would wear a mask (or at least have one handy) indefinitely, even if risk of Covid transmission were near-zero. They might be entering crowded environments, they might be sick, they might worry about the health of others. Many women like masks because they don't have to put on their face, and they're less likely to get hassled by jerks.

Neat story, but none of this is true. The real reason that young and healthy people are wearing masks outdoors when they are far away from other people is because the pandemic triggered something irrational in their brain. A fear that they will need to confront and get over. They got “spooked”, for lack of a better word.

Pedestrian being our in-forum example.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Someone has "borderline mental illness" if their public health and attire choices don't meet your approval?

There are plenty of perfectly logical reasons why someone would wear a mask (or at least have one handy) indefinitely, even if risk of Covid transmission were near-zero. They might be entering crowded environments, they might be sick, they might worry about the health of others. Many women like masks because they don't have to put on their face, and they're less likely to get hassled by jerks.

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

By calling it "idiotic" you are demonstrating that it bothers you and the question is, "Why should it? Why should you care?" The lost likely answer seems to be political as others have said.

I am an equal opportunity critic of dumb and irrational behavior.

Last year I (on this very forum) decried dipshits who refused to, or complained about mask wearing. At that time it made sense.

I am very critical of people who refuse vaccination.

I think people who think that a necklace they are wearing with a cross will somehow protect them are superstitious and silly.

Similarly, healthy people masking outdoors are being silly and stupid.

It’s just plain true.

[Camelback]

Fully vaccinated maskers are like those people that order gluten free food even if they don't have a gluten intolerance issue.

I did notice that during the first pandemic lockdowns when there were food shortages and empty shelves, I didn't hear one person talking about their gluten free diet

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

I am an equal opportunity critic of dumb and irrational behavior.

Last year I (on this very forum) decried dipshits who refused to, or complained about mask wearing. At that time it made sense.

I am very critical of people who refuse vaccination.

I think people who think that a necklace they are wearing with a cross will somehow protect them are superstitious and silly.

Similarly, healthy people masking outdoors are being silly and stupid.

It’s just plain true.

You seem very "judgy".

Refusing vaccination does measurable harm to others besides yourself.

Wearing a mask you may not need harms no one else. It's just none of your business and it's pathological for you to obsess about it.

[Pedestrian]

The U.K. recorded the most coronavirus cases in one day since mid-February as a new wave driven by the highly transmissible and potentially more resistant delta variant takes shape. More than 11,000 new cases of the disease were reported in Britain on Thursday with infection rates increasing across all age groups. Initial studies have shown infections caused by the variant first identified in hard-hit India are more than twice as likely to send victims to the hospital than with the alpha variant. This latest mutation has spread to South America and elsewhere as Covid-19 continues to kill thousands daily. The delta variant may also present more of a threat to people who have had only one vaccine dose, according to initial research, a nod to fears that uneven global vaccination may lead to strains impervious to existing drugs. In the U.K., the current crisis comes as eight in 10 people there have had at least one shot. It also provides a warning to the U.S., where the delta variant has been spreading, too. As Americans rush to erase all precautions, only about 50% have received a single dose.

Bloomberg Evening Briefing (email newsletter)

By contrast, the US, which is a much larger country and has a lower percentage of people who have gotten at least one dose of vaccine, had 12294 cases today (just a few more than the UK). Oh, and London is by far the least vaxxed part of the UK.

Originally Posted by 10023

coming back to London felt like walking through the gates of a minimum security prison.
The only people in this country who are hospitalised with Covid are people (mostly older South Asians) who refuse to be vaccinated. It’s not our problem.
I am starting to just walk into places without a mask. The places that make a big stink about it, I just won’t patronise anymore. I’ve had both doses of Pfizer, and at least one case of Covid, before this btw.

Originally Posted by the urban politician

London is lame. Like zero cases and they're still acting like clowns. Sorry, dude.

And one can tell there's a loss of grey matter (see https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/sho...41619&page=777 ).

It seems clear now the delta variant is going to become the predominant strain in the US as well and my prediction is we are going to see a new wave of illness in those areas with low vaccination rates. I have very mixed feelings about this. I think there's a lot more death than most people now expect coming but on the other hand a wave of illness from the delta variant may take care of the low vaccinations rates the tough love way by spreading wildly through unvaxxed communities and hugely increasing the percentage of people (who survive) with antibodies, thus putting most of the country into the "herd immunity" zone. And like several of you keep saying, they had the opportunity to get a couple of shots.

It's not over, folks.

[Pedestrian]

Good news: The daily number of vaccinations seems to be creeping up again:


https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/c...-distribution/

I don't know why but it is.

[10023]

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

Bloomberg Evening Briefing (email newsletter)

By contrast, the US, which is a much larger country and has a lower percentage of people who have gotten at least one dose of vaccine, had 12294 cases today (just a few more than the UK). Oh, and London is by far the least vaxxed part of the UK.





And one can tell there's a loss of grey matter (see https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/sho...41619&page=777 ).

It seems clear now the delta variant is going to become the predominant strain in the US as well and my prediction is we are going to see a new wave of illness in those areas with low vaccination rates. I have very mixed feelings about this. I think there's a lot more death than most people now expect coming but on the other hand a wave of illness from the delta variant may take care of the low vaccinations rates the tough love way by spreading wildly through unvaxxed communities and hugely increasing the percentage of people (who survive) with antibodies, thus putting most of the country into the "herd immunity" zone. And like several of you keep saying, they had the opportunity to get a couple of shots.

It's not over, folks.

It will never be over. It will be a largely seasonal illness every year. But what is over is our need to care about it or change our lives because of it.

Get vaccinated, don’t get vaccinated, either way another person’s choice to be protected to the best of our capabilities, or not, is no longer my concern.

[Yuri]

I’m very happy with those news popping everywhere that companies don’t believe on remote working and very soon people will all be back to office.

Morgan Stanley went straight to the point: if you want a NYC pay, you better live in NYC.

From my experience, remote working doesn’t work. Most people get accommodate, lose sense of priority and get bitter believing the company owes than more and more. And a minority remains productive, but is usually individualistic, focusing exclusively on their agenda, ignoring daily boss’ orders.

And back to SkyscraperPage, that’s wonderful news. Our cities will be back and those obnoxious, exclusive gate communities, “charming” exurb towns will be back to irrelevance.

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by yuriandrade

I’m very happy with those news popping everywhere that companies don’t believe on remote working and very soon people will all be back to office.

Morgan Stanley went straight to the point: if you want a NYC pay, you better live in NYC.

From my experience, remote working doesn’t work. Most people get accommodate, lose sense of priority and get bitter believing the company owes than more and more. And a minority remains productive, but is usually individualistic, focusing exclusively on their agenda, ignoring daily boss’ orders.

Is this from your experience being an employer, or being the person actually working from home?

My partner has been working from home since April of last year. It took him a while to adjust, and he said that for the first 3 months or so, the big bosses were on him and everyone else working from home; he felt that the big bosses' attitude was that they were ASSUMING the people working from home were goofing off just because they were home, so they were constantly checking up on them through emails, phone calls, and regular conference calls. My partner (and some of his other coworkers) were thinking 'shouldn't we be working instead of wasting time with these goddamned conference calls that are really all about nothing??' After a while, those needless conference calls went away. My partner has gotten used to working from home and is actually very productive. There's talk of them going back to the office in September, but for each worker, only a few days a week. He says that one disadvantage of working from home is that it's harder to collaborate and work as a team; when everyone's at the office, it's easier to help each other out with work, or if someone gets bogged down, you can easily just go to someone and say "Oh, can you did this for me, I have to finish up with such-and-such report."