Masks and Social Distancing

 If you've read at all you know I live in Southern California.  And if you're breathing and even partially aware of what's going on in the world, you know that California is an epicenter for the COVID19 pandemic.  The infections, hospitalizations, and deaths are pretty eye opening.  People are frightened and the ICU's are filling up.  People with small businesses like restaurants and other service businesses are getting killed by being shut down by the governmental lockdown.  The State government in my opinion hasn't responded very well to the problem because they've adopted a "one size fits all" solution. And that solution is to close everything down.  But that is a whole other story,

Since my wife and I are of...ahem...a certain age, we've been very careful about our activities outside our home.  We've worn masks and kept a social distance when going out to stores, restaurants (when we could), stayed outside when possible, and limiting our interactions with others.  We've spent most of our time walking our two precious Labs, reading, playing games, doing chores around the house, and really just watching everything we do.  I continue to play golf, ride my new eBike, and partake of Rotary via Zoom but personal experiences are few and far between.  The exception is our interactions with our daughter, her husband and our three granddaughters.  They have been very careful and I think they are conducting their lives somewhat so that they can interact with us, which is so appreciated.  Seeing them really gives us a boost.  And seeing our son and his family on the East coast is just out of the question.  Thank goodness for Zoom and FaceTime.  Like everyone, we look forward to the day when we can be vaccinated and life can start to return to normal.  But I think that will be a while, so in the meantime we continue to do what we need to do to protect ourselves and others.  

When the pandemic was gaining momentum, the conventional wisdom was that only the elderly with co-morbidities were in danger.  Those in senior centers and older people with other health problems were doomed if they got the virus.  But as time has evolved, the stories of the virus killing people of all ages seems to be more common.  So now we know that the virus can be deadly for anyone and it isn't really very predictable how someone will be affected.  One person may not even know they have it, the next person will get mildly ill, the next will struggle and the next will die.  And it's difficult to predict how it will impact each individual.  

Having said all that, I continue to be amazed by number of idiots surrounding me.  I continue to be amazed at people discounting the wearing of masks and social distancing.  I've heard people say that wearing a mask takes away our freedoms.  WHAT?!?  Once again that is just idiotic.  If it does nothing else, it offers some basic protection.  You can read just one of a million articles on why to wear a mask here.  That someone would object to wearing a mask and practicing social distancing is just disrespectful to everyone around them.  It's infuriating and idiotic.  But don't get me started! :)  So please...when you go out, wear a fucking mask and practice social distancing.  It's not that hard.  It's not an abridge to your freedoms.  Have some respect for others.  Don't be an idiot.