What it's like to be retired during Covid

[gotmuddy]

1 hour ago, JestersHK said:

It really is insane.   It's driven my wife and her family apart... 

They have legitimate health concerns and need to be extra careful, but they've over stepped boundaries on trying to force their way of life onto my family.  Between Covid and politics my family will likely be sitting alone during the holidays as I refuse to support or acknowledge their demands and behavior.  Sad really, but it is what it is, there is no changing someone's viewpoint.

They should and can live in a bubble if they need to, but me and mine do not nor will not.  

 

Saturday we(my kids, my adopted brothers and sisters) were at my camper enjoying the beautiful sunshine when my mom pulled up very agitated because the kids were not wearing their masks.  I told her we were all 6ft away so it shouldnt matter and she rebutted saying that she heard on the news that it doesnt matter.

 

I basically have to stay away from my mother because of this.  EVERYONE else in the family is normal(about covid anyways) but she has gone off the deep end.

 

[Flysmallie]

51 minutes ago, ColdWaterFshr said:

 

My wife got stared down by trump hat wearing guy at a gas station in Rolla this weekend for what I presume was her crime of wearing a mask.  She was the only one inside the very busy gas station wearing a mask.  She told me about the stare down after we had left, which was probably a good thing or I would have got in his face.

 

I get this a lot while traveling. You get so used to putting it on in the cities that it’s just habit to put it on before going in anywhere. These outer areas you get some looks from the “intelligent locals”.

None have been ignorant enough to make a comment about it though. 

[JestersHK]

If you want to wear a mask 24/7 indoors,  outdoors, while driving down the road so be it.  

If you believe that your mask will protect and save you while driving or being outdoors and away from others who am I to question your mask wearing logic.  

That's your choice and you have every right to behave that way, and believe whatever you need to.

I also have a right and choice to wear a mask as I see fit.  If you require me to wear a mask in your store and I refuse to wear one,  it's your right to refuse me service and it's my right to not shop there.  I wear a mask everyday to work as its required.  Do I support it? Not really but I'll comply as it's a term of my employment. I also have the right to not comply and go find employment elsewhere as it's my choice.

It's a 2 way street that right now is a very gray area for me.  Don't infringe on my rights though and dictate what behavior you require from me to be compliant with whatever demands you deem are necessary by a government run health agency that has yet to prove they even know what the transmission rates or risk rates truly are. 

I watched my said previous employer ( a major healthcare provider that many hete frequent in the STL area) just about bankrupt their operating model based off fear mongering and death totals that never materialized.  How many people died due to fear of going to the hospitals or skipping elective surgeries due to covid fears or the fact the hospitals stopped elective surgeries altogether.  Knee jerk reactions I witnessed and was impacted by play out firsthand...

This whole mess has been a giant crap sandwich that has impacted countless lives I'm not denying that,  but we all should still be allowed our freedom of choice to make the decisions for our own families based off our own fact finding and experiences and not just blindly follow what the media and government tell us to do.

 

 

 

[Johnsfolly]

9 minutes ago, Flysmallie said:

I get this a lot while traveling. You get so used to putting it on in the cities that it’s just habit to put it on before going in anywhere. These outer areas you get some looks from the “intelligent locals”.

None have been ignorant enough to make a comment about it though. 

Since January I have been working at the lab except for time off requests. We have implemented social distancing procedures at work, but still have 60+ people in my building on campus that all have lives outside of our work. Since June, I have travelled from MD to KS and back, MD to GA and back, MD to MO and back, MD to DE and back several times, MD to SC and back, MD to PA and back. I look at the data presented on various sites that are not political portals and take what i consider to be calculated but low risk activities. I also try not to be a hypocrite about this pandemic. I have heard from many sources like DJ about the monetization of COVID cases and do consider that there is likely an inflation of the actual numbers. I look more at trends to make some of my decisions.

We routinely and probably more so than we should have one to two meals every 7 to 10 days from local restaurants since March both when it was curbside and now dine in. Partly for ourselves, but also to try an keep these businesses going. A lot of these places are really putting in tremendous efforts to keep their patrons safe and I would hate to see some of them close because I was not willing to help by having meals there.

We wear masks when out in public and I really don't care what others think about us wearing them. We don't wear them in the car, or when it is just ourselves together, or when we are with folks that are more than 10 ft apart that we don't know, or around others that we choose to be around that are not symptomatic. We have hand sanitizer in all of our vehicles. We routinely wash our hands in public places and sanitize when we get back in the car. We are trying to do what we can to live somewhat normal lives. Who knows we may all get it by the end of the year or not.  

Each of us have to do what we need to do.

[JestersHK]

53 minutes ago, Smalliebigs said:

Agreed with you 100% other than my wife is a doc who specializes in seniors and she has seen some Covid patients so we have been forced into Two different quarantines and are currently in one again with my daughter’s school here in Kirkwood because some brilliant parent who was exhibiting symptoms went and got tested on Monday of last week and was confirmed positive on Thursday evening. She sent her kid to school Monday thru Thursday like a sharp knife and the district is playing it safe and calling her daughter “presumed positive” hahaha what a joke. 
so now back to the BS “virtual learning” and I’m pissed.

 

The whole school quarantine thing is a hot mess in our district... they've quarantined over 1800 kids and I think 7 or 8 have been positive.  We've also had covid positive parents keep sending kids and siblings to schools.  I got 3 in 3 different schools and it's just crazy right now.

I'm in agreement with the better safe than sorry approach and wouldn't have an issue if they had virtual learning for those kids that get quarantined, but they do not...

My oldest is a sophomore and in 4AP classes, not trying to brag but she's a nerd 😃... Poor kid was on her chromebook almost 10 hours a day for 2 weeks just to try and keep up... she's rocking a 4.4GPA and it's all in jeopardy now because they are not able to accommodate the course lecture model of the college classes for non virtual students.  I'll fight tooth and nail for her as this is a kid who was royally pissed off at being quarantined and not allowed in class and ultimately it can have real consequences on her future education choices.  

We're friends with a few teachers and counselors in the district and they even said they have to find a different way to adjust to this.

 

 

[Flysmallie]

My kid just got home from school. Seems the whole varsity cheer team is quarantined until the 13th. She’s overly happy about that. She’s a straight A student so I’m not worried. More excited about what she might create while she’s home. I’ve already heard the guitar. 
 

I don’t cause problems for businesses by not following a mandate that was placed on them. For the most part they are just trying to keep doing what they are doing without somebody being a dick about it. 
 

I’m just trying to do the same. I know, I know, the government has control over me now. 

[Devan S.]

1 hour ago, JestersHK said:

by a government run health agency that has yet to prove they even know what the transmission rates or risk rates truly are. 

 

By the same token, try being a government run health agency and advise risk rates and transmission rates when the data(by your own account) is being padded by FOR PROFIT healthcare providers who are trying to boost/misallocate numbers.

 

I firmly believe the government can/does screw up 99.9% of the things it does but in this case, the best crap they have is still crap and a lot of what they are getting comes from the private sector.

[Johnsfolly]

49 minutes ago, Devan S. said:

By the same token, try being a government run health agency and advise risk rates and transmission rates when the data(by your own account) is being padded by FOR PROFIT healthcare providers who are trying to boost/misallocate numbers.

 

I firmly believe the government can/does screw up 99.9% of the things it does but in this case, the best crap they have is still crap and a lot of what they are getting comes from the private sector.

I feel for you @Devan S. that has got to suck. No win situation for sure.

[JestersHK]

Agreed John and I can only imagine... truly a lose lose situation... 

[Devan S.]

I'm not in the medical field and certainly not in a government organization. Just thought I would offer a different perspective. We all get zoned into on what we think is right or wrong and sometimes to look at it in another perspective offers up how bias we all really are.