Month: June 2020

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Jesus Christ, Just Wear a Face Mask!

From Daring Fireball:

Jason Kottke, with a slew of new links on the apparent efficacy of wearing face masks in public:

And these are just from the last few days. Why WHY WHY!!!! are we still talking about this? There's no credible evidence that wearing a mask is harmful, so at worse it's harmless. If there's like a 1-in-10 chance that masks are somewhat helpful — and the growing amount of research suggests that both 1-in-10 and "somewhat helpful" are both understatements — isn't it worth the tiny bit of effort to wear one and help keep our neighbors safe from potential fucking death? Just in case?

Japan is a striking example. Effectively, universal face-mask wearing is the only thing Japan has done right to combat COVID-19, and it's seemingly been enough, despite being a nation of densely populated cities and widespread public transit usage. Is there a single country with widespread wearing of face masks where there's been a bad COVID-19 outbreak? One? If we can beat this mostly through wearing face masks, it should be celebrated. It's so easy.

And, if you're looking to simply sit back this weekend and read, maybe catch your breath, but without tuning out of our current affairs, you'll find no better reading and watching list than Kottke's assemblage. Much to learn, much to think about.

Ben and I had to make another run to IKEA yesterday to pick up a few more items for his wardrobe project, and while waiting in line in the (thankfully shaded) 107F heat, I was surprised at the number of people—besides ourselves—who were wearing masks. The ratio wasn't great (I'd estimate about 60-70%), but considering our recent trips to Target, where mask-wearers have definitely become the minority and social distancing is practically non-existent, I was still pretty impressed.

This is not how I envisioned 2020…
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Agreed.

And I loathed Bush! In fact, that was the reason I started blogging so I had an outlet by which to vent my frustration with the direction he was taking the country!

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A Shout Out

My mom—to the best of my recollection—didn't have a single racist bone in her body, and if she did, she kept it very well hidden. Her parents were the same way and I never heard any of them utter anything derogatory about a person of color my entire life (although she—and her parents—had plenty to say about "the homos"…at least until I came out and educated them.

My dad on the other hand—a lifelong Democrat which proves this is not a uniquely Republican malady—always had racist undercurrents flowing through him, but it was only when he got older did it become overt with near-daily rants about "the damn Mexicans" or " the damn Blacks" taking advantage of the system and overrunning the country. I gave up trying to educate him because I knew at that point it was a hopeless battle I'd never win. His entire side of the family was like that; one of many reasons that since his death I've had nothing to do with them.

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Quote of the Day

White privilege doesn't mean that you haven't had a difficult life. It means that you haven't had extra difficulties because of your skin color.

Black Lives Matter doesn't mean that other lives don't matter. It means that the conversation right now is about this message as it is an important and overdue topic. When someone is talking about Breast Cancer Awareness, you don't yell at them, "All Cancer Awareness."

Defund the Police doesn't mean that there will be no police or laws. It doesn't mean that communities are self-policed or that crime will run rampant. It means reallocating some funds for services that are better responded to by departments more in touch with a community. Actual crimes requiring a police presence or investigation would still be handles by law enforcement." ~ JD Scott (the other Scott brother)

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WEAR YOUR FUCKING MASKS!

And then there's this asshole…


Upstanding gentleman spotted at my doctor's office the other day—a doctor's office that, by the way, had clearly posted on the entrance doors that masks must be worn at all times.

And no Felicia, that's not a mask on his face. It's his beard. He was given a mask by staff when he checked in because he didn't have one. He put it on, and then promptly removed it and started coughing the moment he sat down. And—because of course—he was making no effort whatsoever to cover those coughs.

In other People are Fucking Idiots news, it appears that yet another person in my division at work (although in a totally different building) has been exposed to the COVID-19 virus. He was supposedly notified of this late last night, failed to notify his supervisor per policy, and then came into work—in direct violation of not only HR policy but basic common sense. Further, he didn't even mention the call until it came up in conversation with one of my peers (a guy my age who for some reason insists on going into the office at least once a week even though we are cleared to work from home 100%) who had been working in direct contact with him!

Needless to say, the shit hit the socially-distanced fan. My coworker notified everyone in that facility and told them to go home and self-quarantine for the next two weeks per corporate policy. My coworker will now need to self quarantine for two weeks, the building will need to be disinfected, and the guy's supervisor is whining that my peer had no right to send people home—and further was violating employee confidentiality by telling everyone in the facility what had happened. Our supervisor was having none of that drama since the information was voluntarily disclosed by the exposed employee and immediately got our Division HR office involved.

I will be very surprised if that guy is still employed come Monday, because after laying out specific responses to the pandemic, the policy also stated that failure to adhere to the guidelines would result in disciplinary action up to and including termination.