It’s hard for young people to quarantine two weeks before a wedding. They don’t get that much time off.
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I don’t wear masks often anymore, but playing tourist in DC I have made my family wear it on the metro. I wore mine in the spy museum today (nobody else in our group did), but not in the aquarium. I sort of wish I had. I had a mini meltdown and I don’t know why. Best guess - it was too many unmasked people acting too crazy. They were kids and not being terrible per se, but I think it was too much for me. I will be surprised if someone doesn’t come down with covid, but i can still cross my fingers. Funny that restaurants don’t bother me much, but we aren’t the lingering type. 45 min and I had better be done even precovid
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I’m still wearing mask when I go shopping, hey I like to make full use of my money, I paid 99c for it, I don’t like to waste.
I’m still debating whether to get the N95 mask using my sort of HSA money, the typical $200( from my insurance company) they give me every year for taking survey and such, free money, I can only buy medical stuff.
I don’t wear a mask anymore unless required, but will not hug or kiss anyone but husband, kids and grandkids.
I recently attended my first indoor event in 2+ years and tried hard to hide my anxiety. H and I were the only ones in our group who’ve been vax’d. We did not wear masks. The church was packed when we arrived at the appointed time, shortly after Mass, but emptied out after about 15 minutes until there were only about a dozen left.
Since then, GD’s nasal congestion, fatigue and fussiness have been attributed to the weather and a new tooth by her father; her mother does not comment. I hope he’s right this time.
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Well…I didn’t say masks inside with no exceptions!!! D is going to a wedding this weekend. She will mask during the event except when she is at her table eating or drinking. This is her own decision. She is a health care worker and on a work day wears a mask for 8+ hours. No big deal to wear it for a couple of hours somewhere.
I would do the same and have. Masks at grocery stores, Target, running into get coffee, etc. But I have eaten indoors (would prefer not to be in a restaurant where tables are on top of each other) and yes, take my mask off to eat and drink. There’s still a little risk there. But as we all do, I accept these standards and I am LIVING MY LIFE.
I am past holding a grudge against anyone choosing not to wear a mask in these same situations. Why all the judgement?
Never have I thought the task of wearing a mask alone was limiting what I do. It was widespread heavy duty COVID and for a time, no vaccines that was limiting. Now, COVID is still out there. But my choice is to continue with some precautions - in particular, a mask.
Does it bother anyone that people are still wearing masks? I’m curious. And if so, why?
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It’s convenient that you could do that - quarantine for 2 weeks. Many cannot. Work, care of other family members……
Though the temptation to return to “some semblance of normality” is completely understandable, I do wonder why people aren’t including the reality of Long Covid in their personal risk assessments. Any quick skim of the recent literature on the subject will reveal a pretty horrifying array of long term or permanent damage to the body and brain that could make a return to any kind of life, let alone a pleasant one, a challenge. And the prospect of getting this over again and again as new variants come down the pike is chilling.
Though I don’t relish the prospect of getting sick with Covid, it is what comes after that will keep me masked and avoiding most indoor events for the foreseeable future. For me, the point at which I’d feel comfortable “returning to normality” is when we have more effective vaccines and at least some basic understanding of what Long Covid is and how it can be treated.
I do feel as if the media and CDC have gravely underplayed the risk of Long Covid in their communications to the general public.
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And likely continuing to mutate.
Oh, and there’s this new virus called Monkeypox, maybe some of you have heard of it? I doubt we’re done with viruses spreading around the population.
Luckily the ones I know of were all working remote so not hard for them
Of course! - to all that! But wow, masking (and hand washing and hand sanitizer…)has done A LOT to avoid the spread of viruses from the common cold to flu to COVID.
Do you deny that masking has made a difference?
In life, people represent all levels of risky ness in daily living. Motorcycle? Not for me. Running a trail at night? Not for me. Dropping masking 100%? Not for me - at this time.
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I should say that I wasn’t sure if your post was supporting precautions or if you were saying “viruses will always be around, why bother”
The former, but as usual, I can’t seem to master the English language at my age. 
What I was trying to say is, don’t put away those masks too quickly. The next big thing will be coming around the corner. I’m like you. There are many instances where I still wear my mask.
Thankfully, no one seems to mention my mask wearing to me. Now if you’re driving alone in your car on the street or freeway with mask on, then that’s truly weird.
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That I have seen to be a big difference in attitudes/approaches with Covid. I know people who cannot work from home. Many of them have been at work throughout all of Covid. They are much less likely from what I have seen to have issues with spending time indoors, not wearing masks, etc. People who can work from home or who are retired from what I have seen are more likely to be in the avoid indoors/wear mask always camp. No universally true for either camp though. And the same applies for people who live with people in the “can’t work from home” camp. They are also more likely to think about Covid issues less even though they may work from home/be retired.
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We are not exactly back to normal, but we are doing our normal things - eating indoors regularly, movies, concerts, and assorted indoor entertainment venues. We mask in crowded places, wash hands often, etc. So far so good.
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I think this is very very true. My daughter who is a nurse has only one co-worker who is still “ careful”. But I who know many retireees/remote workers know a much larger cohort who are still avoiding many indoor events and are mask wearing almost everywhere. . Of course there’s the area I live in whose politics align with those who are more likely to wear masks, not go indoors to events etc….( again as a matter of percentages…there are exceptions). I still wear masks anywhere that people need to go ( grocery, public transport etc,) as opposed to choose to go (fun events, concerts). That’s why I’d wear a mask to a funeral but not to a wedding ( unless explicitly asked to do so or if I knew the “ must be there” people wanted it
Also found that the longer people who were not otherwise trained to wear masks (so not doctors, nurses, dentists, etc), the less willing they are to wear masks outside of work. My wife wore one 7+ hours a day at work and wasn’t trained to do so (its not a matter of needing training to have one on your face but an expectation you had from the start of the particular career/job) and she hated to wear one any time outside work. I work from home and don’t have an issue wearing one because I am not required to for 7+ hours a day.
Another difference with those who are retired is definitely tending to be older and thus in higher risk groups (by age and increased chances of having health issues that increase risks).
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Rideshare driver heading to the next pickup?
Or maybe someone who works in a health care facility driving home and is used to wearing a mask and did not bother to take it off?
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We just came back from a week at the beach with friends and brought COVID back with us. I am 99% sure that our teens/young adults contracted it in one of the many shops at the beach because they didn’t have any symptoms until after we had been there for several days and it spread amongst the three of them first. If they had had a mild case on the way down surely we would have all gotten it on the way there since it was many hours in a closed car unmasked.
My husband and I were double boosted and although we felt a bit off after we got back home (he moreso than I) we both have tested negative. My thought now is that it was just our immune systems vanquishing the foe. My younger daughter (18) was a little sniffly and had a headache while at the beach, just minor symptoms really, but tested positive once we got home. Our 21 yr old felt really crappy on the ride home and for about 4 days after that and the T line on the test was super dark. The other mom was only boosted once and she got it on the way back after riding in the car with her daughter who also tested positive. Her daughter was asked by her boyfriend to test before a gathering with his family and it came back positive and they alerted us. My 18yr old would never have thought to test her symptoms were so mild. I think my 21 year old who felt really crappy would have definitely tested and maybe my friend would have to, but I don’t think I would have if I didn’t know that we had all been exposed.
We definitely let our guards down at the beach and were not masking in stores and shops. Were I to go back I would definitely mask and I will continue to mask indoors here at home, but I do think the double booster worked for me and my husband because we definitely got 3+ hours of exposure in a closed up car from two young adults who had it and we never tested positive.
I’m masking indoors for the foreseeable future though and not eating indoors at restaurants.
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Or just weird. 
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