5 ms·

Sigh. This is wrong, and I wonder why it is so hard to understand that it's all about probabilities. Being unmasked for 50% (?) of the time (while eating, say)

by cure 5y ago

Sigh. This is wrong, and I wonder why it is so hard to understand that it's all about probabilities. Being unmasked for 50% (?) of the time (while eating, say) you are in an enclosed space is obviously less risky than being unmasked 100% of the time.

Sohcahtoa82 5y ago
Except at a restaurant, the unmasked time is closer to 95%-99%, depending on how long it takes to get a table, and then how long you're there. My wife an I recently went out for breakfast. There was no wait for a table, so the masked time was basically less than a minute, but let's call it a full minute. Then, we were there for about 40 minutes unmasked. That's a 97.5% time unmasked, talking or eating. You cannot possibly convince me that the 1 minute I had my mask on made ANY difference. That said, the alternative to the "mask until you're seated" policy was never going to be "no masks", it would end up being "no indoor dining".
- dragontamer 5y ago
  Were you really eating for all 40 minutes? Or were you socializing for 30 minutes after actually eating for 10? And during the socializing period, you didn't feel like wearing a mask? --------- Surely, when you were seated, you didn't have food yet. You had some time to place an order. It takes a few minutes to even fetch drinks from the back sometimes, depending on what the drinks are.
  - ptudan 5y ago
    Literally no one is doing this. I'm not arguing that what you're describing isn' safer -- but seriously, no one is doing this. They could, they definitely could. But everyone who is going to a restaurant in a "mask to the table" kind of area is wearing it for about 30 seconds til they sit at their table. Maybe on the way to the bathroom. I know a few states had tried to pass mandates about wearing your mask when you were being waited on or when you were socializing/not actively eating. I don't think those stuck though because they are impossibly hard to enforce.
    - dragontamer 5y ago
      > Literally no one is doing this. I don't always practice what I preach, but I've done so on multiple occasions. (IE: I've kept my mask on for the "social" phases of the Restaurant, and only took it off for the eating phase). Given that we're currently facing an unprecedented hospital shortage _RIGHT NOW_, its certainly a behavior worth revisiting and advocating. We can't stop all restaurant visits or family gatherings. But we can lessen the spread of COVID19 while we do gather.
spookthesunset 5y ago
So what? Why is Covid the single only thing that matters. Covid is endemic. Mandating masks says “Covid is literally the most important thing for you”. No. I’m boosted. I’ve got plenty of other problems that are far higher in priority than Covid or the spread of Covid. Nobody should be required by law to wear a mask indoors at this point.
- dragontamer 5y ago
  Keeping a mask off your face while indoors is that important to you? Why? No one has ever been able to tell me why a mask on a face was so terrible, to the point where I'm pretty sure that its just partisan bickering / political theater.
  - spookthesunset 5y ago
    Yes. I like to see faces. I like to smile at my daughter and see her face and have her see mine. Masks are absolutely corrosive to society. They should have stayed off last June.
    - dragontamer 5y ago
      Were smiles banned or something? I've smiled to my niece and she smiled back to me last time I checked. But in public, its important to reduce the hospitalization rate and COVID19 rate of spread. As corrosive as you "think" masks are, I guarantee that the long-term effects of COVID19 are more corrosive. https://www.reddit.com/r/nyc/comments/rxwnbl/i_am_a_new_york_city_public_high_school_student/ https://www.reddit.com/r/nyc/comments/rxwnbl/i_am_a_new_york... Just 10% of this school has gotten infected with COVID19, and you can see how much of a nightmare its become. Not enough substitute teachers to watch kids. Kids mingling in the auditorium because there's not enough teachers to watch them. Spreading COVID19 further and further, causing more kids to be absent, causing more teachers to be absent, preventing school from effectively functioning as a learning environment.
      - spookthesunset 5y ago

by cure 5y ago

Sohcahtoa82 5y ago

Except at a restaurant, the unmasked time is closer to 95%-99%, depending on how long it takes to get a table, and then how long you're there. My wife an I recently went out for breakfast. There was no wait for a table, so the masked time was basically less than a minute, but let's call it a full minute. Then, we were there for about 40 minutes unmasked. That's a 97.5% time unmasked, talking or eating. You cannot possibly convince me that the 1 minute I had my mask on made ANY difference. That said, the alternative to the "mask until you're seated" policy was never going to be "no masks", it would end up being "no indoor dining".

dragontamer 5y ago
Were you really eating for all 40 minutes? Or were you socializing for 30 minutes after actually eating for 10? And during the socializing period, you didn't feel like wearing a mask? --------- Surely, when you were seated, you didn't have food yet. You had some time to place an order. It takes a few minutes to even fetch drinks from the back sometimes, depending on what the drinks are.
- ptudan 5y ago
  Literally no one is doing this. I'm not arguing that what you're describing isn' safer -- but seriously, no one is doing this. They could, they definitely could. But everyone who is going to a restaurant in a "mask to the table" kind of area is wearing it for about 30 seconds til they sit at their table. Maybe on the way to the bathroom. I know a few states had tried to pass mandates about wearing your mask when you were being waited on or when you were socializing/not actively eating. I don't think those stuck though because they are impossibly hard to enforce.
  - dragontamer 5y ago
    > Literally no one is doing this. I don't always practice what I preach, but I've done so on multiple occasions. (IE: I've kept my mask on for the "social" phases of the Restaurant, and only took it off for the eating phase). Given that we're currently facing an unprecedented hospital shortage _RIGHT NOW_, its certainly a behavior worth revisiting and advocating. We can't stop all restaurant visits or family gatherings. But we can lessen the spread of COVID19 while we do gather.

spookthesunset 5y ago

So what? Why is Covid the single only thing that matters. Covid is endemic. Mandating masks says “Covid is literally the most important thing for you”. No. I’m boosted. I’ve got plenty of other problems that are far higher in priority than Covid or the spread of Covid. Nobody should be required by law to wear a mask indoors at this point.

dragontamer 5y ago
Keeping a mask off your face while indoors is that important to you? Why? No one has ever been able to tell me why a mask on a face was so terrible, to the point where I'm pretty sure that its just partisan bickering / political theater.
- spookthesunset 5y ago
  Yes. I like to see faces. I like to smile at my daughter and see her face and have her see mine. Masks are absolutely corrosive to society. They should have stayed off last June.
  - dragontamer 5y ago
    Were smiles banned or something? I've smiled to my niece and she smiled back to me last time I checked. But in public, its important to reduce the hospitalization rate and COVID19 rate of spread. As corrosive as you "think" masks are, I guarantee that the long-term effects of COVID19 are more corrosive. https://www.reddit.com/r/nyc/comments/rxwnbl/i_am_a_new_york_city_public_high_school_student/ https://www.reddit.com/r/nyc/comments/rxwnbl/i_am_a_new_york... Just 10% of this school has gotten infected with COVID19, and you can see how much of a nightmare its become. Not enough substitute teachers to watch kids. Kids mingling in the auditorium because there's not enough teachers to watch them. Spreading COVID19 further and further, causing more kids to be absent, causing more teachers to be absent, preventing school from effectively functioning as a learning environment.
    - spookthesunset 5y ago