Vaccine rollout

I'm not sure why that bothers you. Saying its required keeps more people wearing them without the hassle of forcing people making minimum wage to be confrontational with customers. It's honestly the best way to slowly transition from wearing them. Not to mention it's the best way to not alienate customers. The sign is there for mask nazis, but it's not enforced for the "this is a free country" crowd.

So why use "required" as opposed to "encouraged"? I'd be 100% on board with a sign reading encouraged and think at this point in time it would be just as effective. As I said, I take issue with the word "required" because they're not requiring a damn thing. They're puffing out there chest using a word with a powerful meaning yet not doing a thing about it.

Like I said, I have absolutely no issue with a company encouraging masks or giving customers the choice. I do however take issue with anyone who puts a policy in place yet has absolutely no intention of enforcing it. What's the point of a policy that isn't enforced? If it's not enforced and there's no intent to inforce it, is it even a policy? Why even have a sign in the first place?
 
So why use "required" as opposed to "encouraged"? I'd be 100% on board with a sign reading encouraged and think at this point in time it would be just as effective. As I said, I take issue with the word "required" because they're not requiring a damn thing. They're puffing out there chest using a word with a powerful meaning yet not doing a thing about it.

Like I said, I have absolutely no issue with a company encouraging masks or giving customers the choice. I do however take issue with anyone who puts a policy in place yet has absolutely no intention of enforcing it. What's the point of a policy that isn't enforced? If it's not enforced and there's no intent to inforce it, is it even a policy? Why even have a sign in the first place?
Well I'm pretty sure it's just being too lazy to change the sign.
 
The whole thing strikes me as having been badly politicized. Like I said previously, there was a point in time not terribly long ago where I thought masks were a very reasonable precaution. Things looked scary or, at the absolute minimum, extremely uncertain. Wearing a mask seemed to be a very easy thing to do and, indeed, it was.

But now...I dunno, I consider myself very liberal, but I definitely have the feeling that there are some people who are of a liberal persuasion in power who are kind of getting their jollies telling people want to do. I realize every conservative on here just popped an insta-chubby reading that and maybe I deserve whatever kind of "I told you so!!!" coming my way. Just speaking my mind...it's crossed some kind of line for me.

I saw an article on the front page of the AP this morning to the effect of "UK considering allowing hugs". Lol, wut? I mean, the thing is, I am not a hugger to begin with but, for the majority of the last year, I sure as shit wasn't going to be hugging anyone outside of my immediate household. F that, keep your germs to yourself...I had the common sense not to engage in that kind of behavior, but there's something about a government telling people not to hug that seems weird to me. I feel like there are people in power who get a kick out of bossing people around.
 
I won’t try to convince anyone that there are not some people who use the mask as a political symbol. I frankly have no time for those folks. It certainly has been obvious to me that the cult of Trump has been doing just that. Liberals? Not so much. Just my observations.
 
I've seen a lot of videos of democrats wearing masks with the camera on and taking them off when the camera turns off.
 
I've seen a lot of videos of democrats wearing masks with the camera on and taking them off when the camera turns off.

Well, so much of it is just a goofy dog and pony show. Try watching an NBA game where the coach takes off his mask any time he talks to someone but puts it back on to stand alone on the sidelines. Or when you can hear the voice of the sideline reporter is muffled even though he's reporting from within a cavernous, almost empty (no fans) stadium. Or when the player of the game gets interviewed from 20+ feet away via boom mic but puts on a mask for the first time the entire game. Or the winning F1 driver who runs over and hugs members of his team before heading, masked, to a "socially distanced" podium ceremony where a literal robot brings him his trophy. It's all a little insane.

And, again, none of this is to say masks are useless. There was a point in time where I would have felt really uncomfortable not wearing one in public. But that doesn't mean I'm not entertained by the theater of it all.

I wear one now because my state/local government demands it and, so far, the nuisance < the trouble it would cause me to not wear one.
 
Well, so much of it is just a goofy dog and pony show. Try watching an NBA game where the coach takes off his mask any time he talks to someone but puts it back on to stand alone on the sidelines. Or when you can hear the voice of the sideline reporter is muffled even though he's reporting from within a cavernous, almost empty (no fans) stadium. Or when the player of the game gets interviewed from 20+ feet away via boom mic but puts on a mask for the first time the entire game. Or the winning F1 driver who runs over and hugs members of his team before heading, masked, to a "socially distanced" podium ceremony where a literal robot brings him his trophy. It's all a little insane.

And, again, none of this is to say masks are useless. There was a point in time where I would have felt really uncomfortable not wearing one in public. But that doesn't mean I'm not entertained by the theater of it all.

I wear one now because my state/local government demands it and, so far, the nuisance < the trouble it would cause me to not wear one.

Seems to me like you've had a bit too much to think. Science deniers like you are why this pandemic won't end.
 
Some feel more comfortable when the government is pushing fear down their throat, perverse as that may sound. When I hear of people saying they will still wear a mask outdoors and double vaccinated because "it sets a good example" or they want to "show concern and empathy for others" thats whats going to unnecessarily extend this pandemic. Most doctors and science experts, including Anthony Fauci, have said the vaccines are helping us turn the corner for good, and Fauci's latest comments even hint that it's time to lift most indoor restrictions.
 
Wow. I said earlier that I would avoid this thread like the plague. I have been lying to myself, I guess. So some final thoughts: If we had followed science from the outbreak of Covid 19, we would be way ahead of where we are now. Like, months earlier. Like watching the best Iowa basketball team in a long time in person. Like thousands fewer deaths. Like less economic disaster. Like better prep for the next pandemic, which will likely occur.
In the meantime...If you have not seen the value of masks, or social distancing , or getting vaccinated, or staying out of bars, or you don’t believe that this virus is more deadly than anything we have experienced in a long time, or if you are buying into the idea that the death rate is exaggerated, or if you think the Trump administration did not lie through their teeth for political gain by calling Covid a myth, or if you believe that 4,000+ people have died from the vaccine, or mock scientist’s predictions that have changed, (since that is science), then become a Trump cult member with the other idiots and elect him again in 2024. After all, we know that the death knell for America is:
The takeover by non whites and immigrants. Yahoo!
BTW. The election was stolen. We know because the significant majority of republicans polled said so.
 
Hospitals is not a big deal. The vast majority of the population doesn’t spend hardly any time in them and it’s actually probably a good idea.

Schools... no way it goes past this year as a requirement. In the three conferences in nw Iowa only one school requires them anymore. Our county numbers are so low it’s almost non existent here.

Even in the hardcore democratic states it won't go on indefinitely. As always, the "next big thing" will come along. Both the left and the right will get bored with their current toy and find a new one to play with.
Heck, Dubuque County numbers are starting to drop into single digits on a consistent basis, and that's out of a county of 100,000 people.

Our school district in southwest Wisconsin has gone overboard in my opinion. Tney will send a kid home with any cold or flu symptom, and not let them return until the symptom is gone for twenty four hours.

If a poor kid has allergies acting up, he or she could be screwed. The problem is that the principal and superintendent are wife and husband, and they are in lock step with the county health director who is living in fantasy land.
 
Wow. I said earlier that I would avoid this thread like the plague. I have been lying to myself, I guess. So some final thoughts: If we had followed science from the outbreak of Covid 19, we would be way ahead of where we are now. Like, months earlier. Like watching the best Iowa basketball team in a long time in person. Like thousands fewer deaths. Like less economic disaster. Like better prep for the next pandemic, which will likely occur.
In the meantime...If you have not seen the value of masks, or social distancing , or getting vaccinated, or staying out of bars, or you don’t believe that this virus is more deadly than anything we have experienced in a long time, or if you are buying into the idea that the death rate is exaggerated, or if you think the Trump administration did not lie through their teeth for political gain by calling Covid a myth, or if you believe that 4,000+ people have died from the vaccine, or mock scientist’s predictions that have changed, (since that is science), then become a Trump cult member with the other idiots and elect him again in 2024. After all, we know that the death knell for America is:
The takeover by non whites and immigrants. Yahoo!
BTW. The election was stolen. We know because the significant majority of republicans polled said so.
Mother nature is going to do what its going to do. It was going to run its course no matter what we did.

The Wuhan scientists tried to get cute with combining pathogens. It backfired and we all paid for it. Same with our planet. When it wants to turn into a global tropical rain forest, it will. When it wants to start another ice age it will. Humans are powerless to stop it either way.
 
Wow. I said earlier that I would avoid this thread like the plague. I have been lying to myself, I guess. So some final thoughts: If we had followed science from the outbreak of Covid 19, we would be way ahead of where we are now. Like, months earlier. Like watching the best Iowa basketball team in a long time in person. Like thousands fewer deaths. Like less economic disaster. Like better prep for the next pandemic, which will likely occur.
In the meantime...If you have not seen the value of masks, or social distancing , or getting vaccinated, or staying out of bars, or you don’t believe that this virus is more deadly than anything we have experienced in a long time, or if you are buying into the idea that the death rate is exaggerated, or if you think the Trump administration did not lie through their teeth for political gain by calling Covid a myth, or if you believe that 4,000+ people have died from the vaccine, or mock scientist’s predictions that have changed, (since that is science), then become a Trump cult member with the other idiots and elect him again in 2024. After all, we know that the death knell for America is:
The takeover by non whites and immigrants. Yahoo!
BTW. The election was stolen. We know because the significant majority of republicans polled said so.
No amount of following science would have made it so we could have big crowds before vaccines. We've had no fear of over crowded hospitals for a long time and it didn't matter. Somewhere along the line it became "if it saves one life". Once it was about that, big crowds were impossible.

Hell, look at the numbers from states that followed the science. New York, California, Illinois, Michigan. Those states got smoked just as bad as the ones that didn't follow the science. That means one of two things. Either the science didn't work, or the individual people didn't follow what the politicians said. Of its the latter, that pretty much kills the theory that Trump's words or actions hurt us. You can't say "well people didn't listen to what the government said" and then say "we would have been fine if the government would have said something different".
 
Mother nature is going to do what its going to do. It was going to run its course no matter what we did.

The Wuhan scientists tried to get cute with combining pathogens. It backfired and we all paid for it. Same with our planet. When it wants to turn into a global tropical rain forest, it will. When it wants to start another ice age it will. Humans are powerless to stop it either way.
Other than thinking there are things we can do to help a little, I agree it's mostly out of our control.
 
Mother nature is going to do what its going to do. It was going to run its course no matter what we did.

The Wuhan scientists tried to get cute with combining pathogens. It backfired and we all paid for it. Same with our planet. When it wants to turn into a global tropical rain forest, it will. When it wants to start another ice age it will. Humans are powerless to stop it either way.
Nope. We are not powerless. That has been illustrated through the ages.
 
Well, so much of it is just a goofy dog and pony show. Try watching an NBA game where the coach takes off his mask any time he talks to someone but puts it back on to stand alone on the sidelines. Or when you can hear the voice of the sideline reporter is muffled even though he's reporting from within a cavernous, almost empty (no fans) stadium. Or when the player of the game gets interviewed from 20+ feet away via boom mic but puts on a mask for the first time the entire game. Or the winning F1 driver who runs over and hugs members of his team before heading, masked, to a "socially distanced" podium ceremony where a literal robot brings him his trophy. It's all a little insane.

And, again, none of this is to say masks are useless. There was a point in time where I would have felt really uncomfortable not wearing one in public. But that doesn't mean I'm not entertained by the theater of it all.

I wear one now because my state/local government demands it and, so far, the nuisance < the trouble it would cause me to not wear one.
All of those people are also getting tested probably twice a day. Your average human is not.
 
I agree, but that doesn't mean that the average joe on the street should be following their lead or using them as an example.
That's true, but I don't think he was referring to that in his post. The average Joe can't really follow the lead of "wear a mask when the camera is on, then take it off as soon as it's off" anyway because average Joe's aren't ever in front of cameras.
 
Which means even more that it's all for show.
Yes, my point exactly.

And, again, I want to reiterate for probably the third time now that I am absolutely not making the blanket statement "masks are all for show". I happily donned a mask and, for the majority of the last 12 months, I believed and continue to believe is was the correct move for both personal and societal reasons.

My beef is with the obvious (intelligence insulting) theater that has grown up around the whole thing. It's absurd. I'm sure it's been mostly fueled by good intentions - trying to encourage/normalize mask wearing - but I think, in practice, it's driven doubt and speculation.
 

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