Re: Song of the Day
 

It's actually funny at my place. Despite making a billion dollars saying companies didn't do enough to protect workers, we got the whole place running around without masks during a pandemic. And this was prevaccine.

In December, I had a conversation with one coworker for 5 minutes, em unmasked at em's desk, me masked at em's office door. The firm was planning a "Covid is over" dinner the next night but I had zero plans on attending that germ fest.

The next morning, I get an email from my boss that they were canceling in abundance of caution re Omicron. I said to myself "Wow, is the firm actually being proactive?" Just when I was thinking, "hey wait a minute" I got a call from the coworker saying "I tested positive." I guess my K95 saved my ass because I didn't. And OBTW later learned quite a few tested positive. So much for abundance of caution.

Fast forward a month and I am in my office when same coworker comes in without a mask and asks me "Oh, do you want me to put on a mask?" and I responded, "No, I want you to get the fuck out."

We meet with terminal cancer patients on a regular basis. What the fuck are these people thinking?

Re: Song of the Day
 

You guys should sue yourselves.

Re: Song of the Day
 

I invented telling him that in 2020.

Re: Song of the Day
 

There's a word for what they are trying to do..

Re: Song of the Day
 

YMMV, but in this state, even in the biggest buildings in its biggest cities, all people are wearing are those blue surgical masks. Which are utterly useless.

It's been that way for a while now.

Some buildings recently had a policy requiring masks only on the first floor. Some had a policy requiring them only on floors two and above. I'm serious. How fucking nuts is that?

They're all pretty much mask free at this point.

Re: Song of the Day
 

Compared to people walking around in those useless surgical masks, I was diligent. A ski gater is a pretty well layered item.

I also took exceptional pains not to get close to any of my older relatives or immunocompromised acquaintances. The way I saw it, Covid allowed me to punt on almost any social commitment and convert in-person things to remote, And I Did.

I kind of miss it now. The "Covid Tribe" of close friends who all agreed to be diligent and trusted each other led to lots of engagements where small talk was unnecessary. You could have more in depth conversations and often it was outside, dressed in a pullover, sipping whisky in a plastic cup, or in shorts, with a gin and tonic. Now I'm back to small talk land. Crowded soirees peppered more with acquaintances than close friends. What's called "normal."

Re: Song of the Day
 

One of my folks just got symptoms (mild but annoying) from the new variant. Double vaxxed and boosted. Don't know if it was BA.1 or 2, but doctor said the BA.2 is near impossible to avoid.

Re: Song of the Day
 

The one shred of good news, is that they may never.

Re: Song of the Day
 

Our office went to "mask optional" and I was shocked how many people took them off. Nope, still wearing a mask indoors and around people.

Re: Song of the Day
 

I think a lot of you all are wrong about this. My wife wears a surgical mask at a hospital every day. They're not useless. They're not as much protection as a KN95 for the wearer, but I think the point is that if everyone is wearing one, then even infected people are not spreading the virus effectively.

Re: Song of the Day
 

When you compare waves, the last wave had about 75% of the deaths of the first wave but 300% of the cases in the US. Many people felt it was less severe because fewer people who got COVID were dying from it, but in reality so many more were getting it that the deaths were almost as high.

It's clear the vaccines help by tamping down the number of deaths, but the fact that we are so far from any kind of herd immunity and unlikely to get their anytime soon means that I'd predict we keep seeing a fairly high number of deaths.

On the good news front, it seems the April wave has hit other places harder than us, so something may be working there.

Re: Song of the Day
 

Of course they're not useless.

KN95s are great, but surgical masks are many times better than gaitors, scarves, and other ridiculous things. Sadly, the surgical masks are particular popular among dick-nosers, which is a drawback.

Re: Song of the Day
 

Shakes head, gives up.

Re: Song of the Day
 

Maybe it’s geographic, but in the Mid Atlantic, Covid has been “over” for a long time. It started right after everybody got their second vaccine doses. Even immunocompromised friends started dropping them last summer. Delta freaked everybody out and chilled things for a while, but people dropped the masks again when that abated. And no one cares much about Omicron.

You can agree with this or disagree with this, but this is what life’s been like in NJ, Eastern PA, and DE. It’s like the country has Balkanized into different Covid worlds.

ETA: Philadelphia just reinstated mask mandates.

Re: Song of the Day
 

The gaps on those things are so big. You can see the spaces emerge on the sides of people’s faces while they’re talking.

I tend to agree that masks must’ve conferred some benefit. A barrier of any kind seems better than none. But the science seems to state exactly what Icky said. And that’s all above my pay grade.