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Wash your hands when you get home! Try not to touch your face. I use a mask when I go out because my wife has health issues that would complicate any colds etc

Wash your hands when you get home! Try not to touch your face. I use a mask when I go out because my wife has health issues that would complicate any colds etc. It's really nice to not have to deal with several colds a year. Masks became political. I've had some double-takes in a couple of stores, but mostly people have ignored my mask wearing. Thankfully the grocery store I frequent serves an aging population who are far more likely to wear masks now. I know that some, probably even in this thread, will swear that masks are useless. I know you know that, you're not going to convince me and I'm not going to convince you. Can we skip the arguing and try to reach common ground?

kiba 2y ago
My only issue with masks is that they're a bit too annoying to wear and they reduce my ability to understand what people are saying because I can't see their mouth. I would happily wear masks if they're more convenient.
- bloopernova 2y ago
  As a person with Autism, I too have trouble with understanding people with "modified" or muffled speech. I am not sure if it's full-on Auditory Processing Disorder, but it's really annoying in meetings :/
  - TylerE 2y ago
    Yeah, that can be an issue, more with some than others. As a fellow autistic person I find masking pretty helpful honestly, if nothing else it reduces the constant mental strain from having to do so much other the other kind of masking, in terms of facial expressions and what not. I also find it tends to be a interpreted as a signal to not engage in a bunch of performative small talk, which I don't exactly mind either.
lambdaba 2y ago
What is the common ground? I for one am happy that the vast majority of people do not find the tradeoff acceptable. Ubiquitous masking during COVID was dystopian and damaging and I couldn't imagine having this indefinitely.
- bloopernova 2y ago
  In my opinion, I'd be happy if people masked up if they have any cold-like symptoms. That would prevent some infections being passed, and wouldn't require people to be masked 100% of the time. Would that be acceptable to your social group do you think?
  - lambdaba 2y ago
    Personally I'd be happy to never see another masked person again, if you have an infection that you suspect is serious just stay home. If you have to go out you better wear a real effective respirator mask and not a piece of cloth. But I'd rather prozelitize about taking measures for one's defense (everything to support the immune system, vitamin D, proper nutrition, etc), than the theatrical masking we've seen so far. Again, if it's serious than at least wear a mask that offers some believable protection.
    - toss1 2y ago
      That sounds nice, but many diseases,including COVID19 have a phase where the person is very contagious BEFORE they get symptoms. Even with millions of deaths, we were incredibly lucky that CV-19 had only a ~2% case/fatality rate. Many other diseases are far higher, including the Avian Flu H5N1 at over 50% in humans. Being healthy is a false sense of security (i.e., you don't know what you are talking about and are spreading ignorance). For example the group the 1918 Flu pandemic killed most was yoing healthy males (incl my wife's GGP). Why? Because it caused a huge immune system response called a cytokine storm, and the most healthy males had the strongest immune response, and it killed them (yes, our biological system has a few bugs). The entire job of diseases is to overcome healthy subjects and spread despite this. Stop spreading ignorant wishful thinking.
- teh_infallible 2y ago
  I don’t think there’s any common ground with people who want to normalize masking in public.
- tehjoker 2y ago
TylerE 2y ago
As a vulnerable person, I wear an N95 as much as practical when I go out, and frankly at this point expect that to just be a thing going forward. As you said, it's really nice basically not getting sick. I've got multiple chronic conditions (asthma, T2 diabetes are the biggies, but far from the only) that both tend to act up either from being sick or the drugs you take when you're sick. Ironically I'm about 2 weeks off some sort of what was probably some weird viral infection (not COVID, not traditional flu, not strep). Very well could have been bird flu, although there's a possibility that was also caused by an (insurance forced) asthma medication change that I possibly had a moderate allergic reaction to. In any case, I now have an approved prior auth and am back on the old med.
- dyauspitr 2y ago
  The last three times I’ve had some sort of viral infection the doctors have not been able to ID it. They even did panel tests for the top 20 viruses and none of them were positive. There are thousands of viruses we have no idea about.
banish-m4 2y ago
The politicization of it is a thermometer of societal dysfunction and absurdity that has exceeded the measurable range. I remember the feeling. I wore a 3M N95 mask into a Trader Joe's in the SF Bay Area mid-December 2019 and received gawks and offhand verbal insults (jeers). The nature of the threat was then unknown and epidemiological data later showed community spread was already occurring, so it seemed an entirely prudent precaution even in retrospect. OTOH, people wearing masks outside now when no one else is around and without evidence to show COVID transmission can happen in these conditions, it must be a practice for non-medical reasons. Best to apply good, individual judgment with precautions because some people with irrational tribal beliefs are intent on proving cigarettes or COVID "can't" kill them.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- TylerE 2y ago
  > s outside now when no one else is around and without evidence to show COVID transmission can happen in these conditions, it must be a practice for non-medical reasons. Actually, masking outdoors is fantastic for my allergies, which are one of the main triggers for my asthma. To be clear I use the 3M Aura 9210, which is a very good N95 (actually meets N99 standards based on independent tests, but no one buys those so they are labeled as N95). Very good against my broad spectrum allergies to "the outside" (dust, mold, ragweed, pollen, etc).

kiba 2y ago

My only issue with masks is that they're a bit too annoying to wear and they reduce my ability to understand what people are saying because I can't see their mouth. I would happily wear masks if they're more convenient.

bloopernova 2y ago
As a person with Autism, I too have trouble with understanding people with "modified" or muffled speech. I am not sure if it's full-on Auditory Processing Disorder, but it's really annoying in meetings :/
- TylerE 2y ago
  Yeah, that can be an issue, more with some than others. As a fellow autistic person I find masking pretty helpful honestly, if nothing else it reduces the constant mental strain from having to do so much other the other kind of masking, in terms of facial expressions and what not. I also find it tends to be a interpreted as a signal to not engage in a bunch of performative small talk, which I don't exactly mind either.

lambdaba 2y ago

What is the common ground? I for one am happy that the vast majority of people do not find the tradeoff acceptable. Ubiquitous masking during COVID was dystopian and damaging and I couldn't imagine having this indefinitely.

bloopernova 2y ago
In my opinion, I'd be happy if people masked up if they have any cold-like symptoms. That would prevent some infections being passed, and wouldn't require people to be masked 100% of the time. Would that be acceptable to your social group do you think?
- lambdaba 2y ago
  Personally I'd be happy to never see another masked person again, if you have an infection that you suspect is serious just stay home. If you have to go out you better wear a real effective respirator mask and not a piece of cloth. But I'd rather prozelitize about taking measures for one's defense (everything to support the immune system, vitamin D, proper nutrition, etc), than the theatrical masking we've seen so far. Again, if it's serious than at least wear a mask that offers some believable protection.
  - toss1 2y ago
    That sounds nice, but many diseases,including COVID19 have a phase where the person is very contagious BEFORE they get symptoms. Even with millions of deaths, we were incredibly lucky that CV-19 had only a ~2% case/fatality rate. Many other diseases are far higher, including the Avian Flu H5N1 at over 50% in humans. Being healthy is a false sense of security (i.e., you don't know what you are talking about and are spreading ignorance). For example the group the 1918 Flu pandemic killed most was yoing healthy males (incl my wife's GGP). Why? Because it caused a huge immune system response called a cytokine storm, and the most healthy males had the strongest immune response, and it killed them (yes, our biological system has a few bugs). The entire job of diseases is to overcome healthy subjects and spread despite this. Stop spreading ignorant wishful thinking.
teh_infallible 2y ago
I don’t think there’s any common ground with people who want to normalize masking in public.
tehjoker 2y ago

TylerE 2y ago

As a vulnerable person, I wear an N95 as much as practical when I go out, and frankly at this point expect that to just be a thing going forward. As you said, it's really nice basically not getting sick. I've got multiple chronic conditions (asthma, T2 diabetes are the biggies, but far from the only) that both tend to act up either from being sick or the drugs you take when you're sick. Ironically I'm about 2 weeks off some sort of what was probably some weird viral infection (not COVID, not traditional flu, not strep). Very well could have been bird flu, although there's a possibility that was also caused by an (insurance forced) asthma medication change that I possibly had a moderate allergic reaction to. In any case, I now have an approved prior auth and am back on the old med.

dyauspitr 2y ago
The last three times I’ve had some sort of viral infection the doctors have not been able to ID it. They even did panel tests for the top 20 viruses and none of them were positive. There are thousands of viruses we have no idea about.

banish-m4 2y ago

The politicization of it is a thermometer of societal dysfunction and absurdity that has exceeded the measurable range. I remember the feeling. I wore a 3M N95 mask into a Trader Joe's in the SF Bay Area mid-December 2019 and received gawks and offhand verbal insults (jeers). The nature of the threat was then unknown and epidemiological data later showed community spread was already occurring, so it seemed an entirely prudent precaution even in retrospect. OTOH, people wearing masks outside now when no one else is around and without evidence to show COVID transmission can happen in these conditions, it must be a practice for non-medical reasons. Best to apply good, individual judgment with precautions because some people with irrational tribal beliefs are intent on proving cigarettes or COVID "can't" kill them.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
TylerE 2y ago
> s outside now when no one else is around and without evidence to show COVID transmission can happen in these conditions, it must be a practice for non-medical reasons. Actually, masking outdoors is fantastic for my allergies, which are one of the main triggers for my asthma. To be clear I use the 3M Aura 9210, which is a very good N95 (actually meets N99 standards based on independent tests, but no one buys those so they are labeled as N95). Very good against my broad spectrum allergies to "the outside" (dust, mold, ragweed, pollen, etc).