It's Difficult Being Serious About Coronavirus
Bryce Canyon National Park - Sunday, 6 Sep 2020, 1pm
As we're out hiking on our vacation in Utah I'm finding it's more difficult to be serious about Coronavirus precautions than I thought. I thought, hey, we'll take big steps to reduce our risks by a) driving rather than flying and b) counting on take-out food and grocery shopping rather than eating in restaurants when we travel. Then c) we'll do outdoor activities, namely hiking, which is far safer than anything indoors. It's a good plan and it's sound. The problem is... everyone else.
Most people here aren't wearing masks or making any effort at social distancing. Partly that's because it's Utah, a red state. That means it's full of Coronavirus deniers, people who think it's a political hoax and that precautions for it are hysterical socialism meant to destroy freedom. But even worse than that, the conspiracy theorists are overrepresented in public right now.
Join me in a simple thought experiment. Sort people in groups 1-10 based on how seriously they take precautions for Coronavirus.
The people in group 10, the most cautious, don't like leaving their homes even for essentials. They pay shop runners to deliver groceries to their door and then wipe down the packages with Lysol before taking them inside. Group 9 is similar, though maybe they're willing to go out for their own groceries- but little else. Certainly they're not going on vacation trips right now. Group 8 is likely not traveling, either.
Meanwhile, the people at the other end of the spectrum are the it's-a-hoax clowns and the general DGAF types. BTW, that crowd is more than just group 1/10. It's more like groups 1, 2, 3, and 4. See also the former GOP chairman's rant, "40% of the country looks at it and goes, 'I'm with stupid.'"
Moreover, while the folks at the cautious end of the spectrum are hiding at home and avoiding trips, the folks who've bought into the it's-a-hoax hoax are on parade. They've itching to get out because many of them live in populated cities and states where there are more Covid-19 restrictions. So they pile into their cars and come out here, where they can be "free". The net result is that we're out here with a large percentage of deniers, much larger than 40%. It could be as high as 80%.
We're still doing what we can to limit our own risk. ...Doing what we can short of going home, that is. We stay away from others when possible. We dutifully put our masks on when passing near others. We reinforce the positive by thanking the roughly 20% of our fellow travelers who do the same. We do say it loudly enough for non-maskers nearby to hear it, too... and that's gotten us a number of eye rolls. We're not taking on the anti-maskers directly because we know it simply won't work. They live in a state of denial, in which they believe they're right and we're wrong and have ample "evidence" on their side.
As we're out hiking on our vacation in Utah I'm finding it's more difficult to be serious about Coronavirus precautions than I thought. I thought, hey, we'll take big steps to reduce our risks by a) driving rather than flying and b) counting on take-out food and grocery shopping rather than eating in restaurants when we travel. Then c) we'll do outdoor activities, namely hiking, which is far safer than anything indoors. It's a good plan and it's sound. The problem is... everyone else.
Most people here aren't wearing masks or making any effort at social distancing. Partly that's because it's Utah, a red state. That means it's full of Coronavirus deniers, people who think it's a political hoax and that precautions for it are hysterical socialism meant to destroy freedom. But even worse than that, the conspiracy theorists are overrepresented in public right now.
Join me in a simple thought experiment. Sort people in groups 1-10 based on how seriously they take precautions for Coronavirus.
The people in group 10, the most cautious, don't like leaving their homes even for essentials. They pay shop runners to deliver groceries to their door and then wipe down the packages with Lysol before taking them inside. Group 9 is similar, though maybe they're willing to go out for their own groceries- but little else. Certainly they're not going on vacation trips right now. Group 8 is likely not traveling, either.
Meanwhile, the people at the other end of the spectrum are the it's-a-hoax clowns and the general DGAF types. BTW, that crowd is more than just group 1/10. It's more like groups 1, 2, 3, and 4. See also the former GOP chairman's rant, "40% of the country looks at it and goes, 'I'm with stupid.'"
Moreover, while the folks at the cautious end of the spectrum are hiding at home and avoiding trips, the folks who've bought into the it's-a-hoax hoax are on parade. They've itching to get out because many of them live in populated cities and states where there are more Covid-19 restrictions. So they pile into their cars and come out here, where they can be "free". The net result is that we're out here with a large percentage of deniers, much larger than 40%. It could be as high as 80%.
We're still doing what we can to limit our own risk. ...Doing what we can short of going home, that is. We stay away from others when possible. We dutifully put our masks on when passing near others. We reinforce the positive by thanking the roughly 20% of our fellow travelers who do the same. We do say it loudly enough for non-maskers nearby to hear it, too... and that's gotten us a number of eye rolls. We're not taking on the anti-maskers directly because we know it simply won't work. They live in a state of denial, in which they believe they're right and we're wrong and have ample "evidence" on their side.