Most people know better than to idealize small town life. For all of the benefits of community support, those are completely revocable in the case of community rejection and censure. Especially for someone in business in a small town, risky assertions are a luxury.
At this point, any comments about anyone’s personal and public pandemic protective measures are off limits. It doesn’t matter if you see grocery clerks licking packages before putting them out, or restaurant staff French-kissing random people in the parking lot. Individual safety is up to individuals. This is a free country. We’re all going to have to do business with each other when the current inconvenience dies down. Gotta look to the future, regardless of who doesn’t get to have one because they proved to be genetically inferior and were culled by this largely trivial illness making the rounds.
In a small town, if enough people take a dislike to you, you're dead. Maybe not literally dead, but shunned. It's not just for colonial times. It's human nature. You don't want to risk it. You're better off to keep your trap shut.
Community standards determine what is risky. Things that might repel one person have a robust following among others. Free speech belongs to the dominant group, not to individuals. To be more precise, free speech has consequences, and those consequences hit harder on minorities and individuals than on the majority point of view. If everyone else jumped off a bridge you might be able to avoid jumping off of it with them, but make sure you stand aside and say nothing against bridge jumping. Protect yourself as best you can. Let the world burn.
Sunday, April 05, 2020
You want pathogens with that?
The deli mentioned in an earlier post upped the ante yesterday, when three young members of the staff all trotted out to the parking lot to greet the occupants of two cars that had just pulled in. Close contact included not just stuffing themselves each in turn into the back seat of a compact car with whoever was sitting there, but full-on hugs with others who had emerged from the other vehicle. Then they trotted back into the deli to continue preparing food for public consumption.
Large numbers of their patrons still opt to go inside the tiny space to pick up their orders. For those who want to stay in their cars and have it brought out, one of the plucky huggers will carry the bag out and hand it to you.
With all the businesses that have closed due to recommended best practices, the ones still operating have to advertise their availability. I suggest that the deli use the slogan, "You bet your life we're open!"
When the onslaught of this disease is over we will know who was overreacting. Will the cautious look foolish or will the casual look foolhardy? How much are you willing to bet that we have nothing to worry about?
Large numbers of their patrons still opt to go inside the tiny space to pick up their orders. For those who want to stay in their cars and have it brought out, one of the plucky huggers will carry the bag out and hand it to you.
With all the businesses that have closed due to recommended best practices, the ones still operating have to advertise their availability. I suggest that the deli use the slogan, "You bet your life we're open!"
When the onslaught of this disease is over we will know who was overreacting. Will the cautious look foolish or will the casual look foolhardy? How much are you willing to bet that we have nothing to worry about?
Wednesday, April 01, 2020
The fearless
Some people are treating this coronavirus situation like running with the bulls, or jumping off a cliff with a wing suit. It’s just another grand adventure in a world of risk.
Get a grip, people. We’re talking about routine bullshit like going to the grocery store, or putting gas in the car. If I’m going to take stupid risks with my own health and the health of others, I at least want it to be fun, like having unprotected sex for most of the 1970s. I don't want it to be from scratching my nose after touching the door handle at work.
The people facing the real risks are not grooving on it. Have you heard any doctors and nurses say that it's exaggerated?
Bravado is a coping mechanism for some people. That's fine, we all have our ways. Just respect the ways of others as we all try to get through this.
I'm trying to get my nerve up to wear a mask. It's a big step in an image-conscious society. You can maintain distance in your normal garb. You can find excuses to wear gloves in various contexts. But the mask...that's a big move. That makes it real. The weather is too warm to hide it behind a scarf, especially in a store. You'd look weird, muffled in a scarf as you scan the shelves for whatever the hoarders have left. Real casual.
Mask advocates are working on many options. I want something humorous and original. Of course nothing is original, but if I came up with it on my own it's okay if others came up with the same thing. There's no way to look like you're unconcerned when you're wearing something so unusual in our culture. It's a bold statement. You might even call it fearless.
Get a grip, people. We’re talking about routine bullshit like going to the grocery store, or putting gas in the car. If I’m going to take stupid risks with my own health and the health of others, I at least want it to be fun, like having unprotected sex for most of the 1970s. I don't want it to be from scratching my nose after touching the door handle at work.
The people facing the real risks are not grooving on it. Have you heard any doctors and nurses say that it's exaggerated?
Bravado is a coping mechanism for some people. That's fine, we all have our ways. Just respect the ways of others as we all try to get through this.
I'm trying to get my nerve up to wear a mask. It's a big step in an image-conscious society. You can maintain distance in your normal garb. You can find excuses to wear gloves in various contexts. But the mask...that's a big move. That makes it real. The weather is too warm to hide it behind a scarf, especially in a store. You'd look weird, muffled in a scarf as you scan the shelves for whatever the hoarders have left. Real casual.
Mask advocates are working on many options. I want something humorous and original. Of course nothing is original, but if I came up with it on my own it's okay if others came up with the same thing. There's no way to look like you're unconcerned when you're wearing something so unusual in our culture. It's a bold statement. You might even call it fearless.
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