Thank you, Jeanne. I realize that the mumps/measles was not a good comparison. I could have saved you and me both a lot of time and just mused, “What level of risk are we willing to tolerate?”
You know that I’m an ED nurse in Florida. I suppose I have been willing to tolerate a lot. In the past week I have had days at work that have just about broken me. Patients are so sick. I have had many Covid positive patients. Even with PPE the exposure is awful. After one horrible day last week, I put in for a transfer for a case manager position. I’m not willing to tolerate that level of risk in the ED anymore. I’m not a hero.
Anyway, that was probably the motivation for those questions. Everyone has to figure it out for themselves, when there is no leadership...or malevolent leadership. Thanks for responding.
"What level of risk are we willing to tolerate?” --@lowtide.
First I thank you for your service, dear ED Nurse. You've been in the middle of it!
Second, I keep thinking about what has gone crazy in the U.S. that so many people are even asking whether to send their kids to school or what is the right decision for them.
These decisions about opening or closing schools are given to public health authorities to decide. This authority was decided back in the early 1900s when the U.S. decided not to be the Wild West because of what we have learned from past public health crises.
These are not education decisions. Betsy Davos is way out of line here. She has no authority except in a dictatorship which as far as I know we are not quite there yet, although nearly. Same goes for the science-denying humanoid in the Oval Office.
These are public health decisions. The public health comes first and State Departments of Public Health have the authority and the expertise to do what is necessary to contain an epidemic and save lives. They decide, not anyone else, and certainly not some private citizen.
If some states are going to give parents some options to show up in person, they better make them safe or they have no business even offering it.
Trump's orders to break the CDC is one of the worst thing he's done to the country, although sending storm troopers to cities to illegally nab protestors is worse.
I have a 68-year old neighbor friend who has a home in Sarasota, FL. She drove down about 3 weeks ago and planned to stay through August, but decided to return early because the virus frightened her and she didn't feel safe there. She drove back from Sarasota to Northern Virginia in one day! I asked how she handled rest stops, and she said that for the drive back, she did not drink liquids at all because she didn't want to use the rest stops. The rare times she did stop, some wore masks but a lot were not wearing masks at all. She wore her mask and kept her distance.
I mention this because my husband and I have our annual NC beach vacation coming up in mid-October. It's about a 5-hour trip down there. Beautiful time of the year to be there. I have a feeling that we will be losing our money for the house rental, unless by that time NC is on another lockdown and we can be reimbursed through travel insurance. I guess we'll have to see where things stand two months from now, but I'm not hopeful. Your money or your life ... I'll take my life, thank you very much.
@deetoo we had reservations there in late May. We cancelled because we didn't like what we were hearing. People don't want to wear masks, people are not conforming. We were told to bring everything we would need and once there, supplies may or may not be available, many places were closed, don't use the blankets, etc. I would be so crazy that I would have to pre-clean and disinfect the house and then probably be unable to enjoy it. We felt it wasn't worth it. No regrets. Stay safe.
@febbby23, That was my gut feeling about it. We go to the Outer Banks area, specifically Duck.
I think we should call now and see if we can cancel at this late date and get some money back. It's a house, so I'm not sure. But again, our lives mean more than the $$.
Thanks for the feedback.
@michele-b, my husband saw the video and thought it's attached to a string that he's pulling.
I was laughing too hard to see the trick . I thought it was the bobbing of his head ??♀️
But i shared your link in my family thread and my husband and son both saw it right off.
Women laugh and men want to know how it works, perhaps ???
My grandkids on the other hand would flap it open repeatedly until the string would have snapped. Lots of fun would still be shared by all.
I'm enjoying light hearted revelry and lots of laughing in my slightly opened up isolation. You and @unk-p never fail.