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[traitorsgalore]

This message was self-deleted by its author (traitorsgalore) on Thu Dec 21, 2023, 03:33 PM. When the original post in a discussion thread is self-deleted, the entire discussion thread is automatically locked so new replies cannot be posted.

[walkingman]

1. Same here for DW and I - Knock on wood!!

[Raftergirl]

2. I wear a N95 mask everywhere indoors, even if I'm just running in and out of a store.

Except at the dentist - where I’m going through the long process of getting to implants done and I obviously cannot mask there.

We also don’t eat inside restaurants. Just outside during the warm months. So we do take out instead.

I play tennis indoors twice a week for 1 1/2 hours and wear my mask.

I have not had covid and have not even had a sniffle since the pandemic started.

I was stuck inside the Ft. Lauderdale airport for 15 hours during the flooding and after another 10 hours on flights and another airport and did not get Covid - and I was practically the only one wearing a mask. And I wore it the whole time, except for when I was able to go outside Ft. Lauderdale airport before the sidewalks started flooding.

I’m vaxxed to the max but I swear by my N95’s.

[WmChris]

5. We're completely vaxed.

My wife and have had all the vaxes available 6 to date. We still mask indoors and in stores. I'm immunosuppressive due to rheumatoid arthritis meds and Barb has respiratory issues. Even so I've had covid twice both times no worse than a mediocre cold thanks to the vaccines. It ain't over til it's over. While most folks around here seem to believe it's a thing of the past there seems to be a lot of full hospital beds and many of them are covid patients.

[Bundbuster]

3. I'm right there with you

76 y.o. and no Covid yet. Amazing how cavalier and dismissive so many people - even progressives - have now become.

[Blues Heron]

4. Was in the drug store with mask on of course, person next to me at the checkout was coughing so loud

At first I thought she was just messing with me but then realized she had some full blown respiratory issue. COVID? Who knows but I was DAMN glad to be fully masked, cuz she sure as fuck wasn’t. What pigs people have become anymore.

[lynintenn]

6. I had covid last week and I am fully vaxxed

I was sick about 2 days then felt better. I really thought I had a cold.

[Persondem]

7. This is cold blooded, I know ... but the more magats that leave the gene pool the better.

I just hate that they take some good folks with them.

[Fritz Walter]

28. So long as they don't overwhelm hospitals

Here’s why:
My fully-vaccinated next door neighbor broke his hip during the pandemic. Fire/Rescue took him to a major hospital here, but the ER staff were so slammed, they mis-read the x-ray and sent him home (after an hours-long wait).
He endured days of intense pain and immobility until his son (a physician) called that hospital and urged them to admit him. Instead — after a new scan — they transferred him to a rehab center where he died soon afterwards.

Of course, this wasn’t counted as a “COVID” fatality, especially here in DeSepsis’ Florida. So, I have to wonder how many others passed because they tried but couldn't get treatment for non-pandemic conditions, and therefore were not counted.

Oh, and I wouldn’t go to that hospital unless there was no other medical alternative! Never say “never”!

[bif]

8. I saw an older woman with her mask under her chin the other day

I commented, "Nice chin guard!" She smiled and thanked me. Sheesh. It's been what, four frikken years?!?!?!

[gratuitous]

9. I wear a mask at work

Fully vaxxed, but I contracted Covid during the first week of July. Got a script for Paxlovid, and was okay within a week. Worked from home for an additional week, but my worst symptoms were a runny nose, a catch in the back of my throat, and a little body achiness. The vaccine worked exactly as it's supposed to.

Unless you're one of the unlucky few who can't get the vaccine, keep up on the shots. They're free or nearly so, and they work.

[Goonch]

10. I think I'm the only masked man left in this county......

[senseandsensibility]

12. Lol

[appalachiablue]

18. Luv it

[tritsofme]

11. If you want to wear your mask to infinity and beyond, then go for it. But the idea that those who don't are violating

a social contract, after four years, is beyond ridiculous.

[Blues Heron]

13. I think we need a new contract then cuz this one SUCKS

[Raftergirl]

27. I don't care what anyone else does anymore (except for my husband.)

I know what I need to do keep myself as safe and Covid free as possible because I love not getting sick, even from a cold!

We ask our kids to test before coming to visit us from out of town (and we test also - and we all test before visiting with my mom, who is 94 and lives in Florida. She is pretty careful but still has an active social life and fortunately has also remained covid free.

[usedtobedemgurl]

49. I think I stumbled onto the wrong board.

Usually progressives/liberals say if you don’t want an abortion, don’t get one. If you don’t want a gay marriage, marry someone a different gender. Never do we nastily put down folks and say they are ridiculous. Calling people names? Ridiculous? I am pretty speechless. I hope no one calls you ridiculous. We are the adults in the room.

Happy holidays.

[usedtobedemgurl]

51. That is sad.

If you go around insulting people, you must be missing something in your own life. I hope they find what they need to be happy.

[Hope22]

14. Same here.

Just got my 6th booster last week. I still mask inside public spaces but rarely go inside anywhere other than home. Had C in our home for six weeks a year ago! We mask out of courtesy but also have zero desire to be hit again. I usually get sick as a dog with the vaccine but the most recent Pfizer was much easier on me. In fact I think it helped with some long C symptoms. Just adding this in case anyone else suffers when volunteering for the stick!

[Rebl2]

32. Got Pfizer

vaccine in late October and didn’t feel good for several days. The injection site was red and swollen for three days. All the other Pfizer vaccines I got were nothing like this one.

[Hope22]

36. My husband got the swollen red bump too. He felt pretty rough for two days.

He pretty much sailed through the early ones. I had a headache for weeks after the early ones and dreaded each one. That’s weird how they are so different. Take care! 🙏🏼💗

[Hugin]

43. I had better luck with the new generation of vaccines too.

I gritted my teeth and stuck my arm out for the latest dose after preparing my affairs for auto pilot anticipating a couple of days of down time. I had always viewed the side effects of the vaccinations as the single best indicator of why I mustn’t ever get the full on disease.

This time, however, relatively nothing! Sure, I could tell something had been injected into my arm. It wasn’t anything that an OTC dosage pain reliever couldn’t handle.

I used my free days to catch up on some long neglected me time.

[Hope22]

47. Yea!

Time well spent! 😁

[AllaN01Bear]

15. me also. still.

[Silver Gaia]

16. Same. We mask.

We are usually the only ones, but we don't care, and no one says anything mean anymore.

[relayerbob]

17. Same here

[MichMan]

19. I haven't worn a mask for over 2 years and never caught it either.

[LexVegas]

20. I am vaxed and boosted and dont wear a mask. I respect your choice to do so. nt

[maxsolomon]

21. Why do so many people think that getting vaxxed prevents Covid?

Because they're dumb? The information is out there, everywhere. The Vaccines reduce your chance of contracting the disease and mitigate the severity, so you don't die. They're not a guarantee.

I barely wear a mask anymore: on the bus, on the train, in stores, at parties, in restaurants. I wear one on planes. That's it. Pretty much everyone around me follows suit. I've caught Covid once, at a company Holiday Party in December 2022. Unscathed this entire year despite my recklessness.

By all means, continue wearing a mask if you want, but we're not going back to masking. It's not an issue of respect; it's a measure of the current level of risk.

[Ms. Toad]

45. Based on wastewater surveillance,

The current risk in the US is approximately the same as it was 3 years ago (December 2020).

We do have mitigations we didn't have then, but the risk of infection, and of long COVID isn't significantly different.

[maxsolomon]

48. then the vaccines must work well.

i'm due for my 6th.

[orleans]

22. i mask in public indoors ALL THE DAMN TIME

it's wearing on me. but i'm still a NOVID (no covid), so is my daughter, her husband, my grandbaby.

[Hugin]

44. NOVID!

Congratulations!

I love the term.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

23. I am still wearing masks inside and have not had COVID

[Yavin4]

24. You were definitely exposed to Covid and probably infected.

You just didn't develop any symptoms.

[PlutosHeart]

25. I mask all of the time

and rarely see anyone in my area with one on. Maybe once a day if running to maybe three different places. But I keep reading and hearing of people getting it. I do not want it again. Had the early event prior to the announcement and thought I was going to die. No lie.
Am trying to get brave to get my booster. Got really sick last time I got the shot.

[hunter]

26. I picked up covid at a truck stop in California's Central Valley.

Had to pee and buy some gas. Yeah, I was wearing a mask, vaccinated, keeping my distance from others, and washing my hands thoroughly. Unfortunately I was there surrounded by a few people who were deniers.

Masks work better at preventing the spread of covid than protecting mask wearers from the virus. So do vaccines.

A lot of public health issues are like that. You do things yourself to protect others. Whether or not you yourself are ultimately protected by these small sacrifices is sometimes a crap shoot.

Global warming is a similar issue. The deniers are not always going to be the ones who suffer the worst consequences.

[Pluvious]

29. Thanks for sharing... Just curious :

Was your mask a N95 well fit, or something less effective ?

[hunter]

34. Something less effective.

When I tested positive for covid I isolated in the extreme and I'm pretty sure my wife was the only one I infected.

She was not happy.

[senseandsensibility]

30. The last three paragraphs of your response could be an OP

Very informative and thought provoking.

[Emrys]

31. I'm in the UK, and I haven't had COVID (yet) and generally have been masking indoors up until a few months ago,

when I did finally go out and eat and be entertained in some comparatively airy venues. I knew I was taking a risk, but I think I needed to come to terms with dropping my guard at some point, and I guess that was it.

I still usually mask up in supermarkets, maybe in more recent times dropping it briefly to speak clearly to cashiers etc. - basically any of them with narrower aisles or where I feel at all uncomfortable about rubbing shoulders with people in a crowd.

Whatever arguable protection the mask may give, wearing it does seem to help encourage most folks to give you a wider berth, perhaps from self-protection as they think you might be infected (heaven forbid it might be because they think you or a close loved one may be especially vulnerable).

My wife had it, but I never got it. Both she and I are fully vacced up to the extent that our health service provides. My claim that I didn't get it is borne out by having tested myself every morning for a week and never gotten a positive result, let alone any symptoms, whereas my wife tested positive on her first test and then still after five days, so it seems it wasn't an anomalous strain that could escape detection. We took fairly basic precautions, physical distancing, separate cutlery etc., regular handwashing and excellent ventilation (luckily, it was in the summer). I was amazed (and grateful) to get through the week and escape unscathed.

[ecstatic]

33. You wear an N-95 mask?

[malaise]

35. Ditto

Am still careful

[sir pball]

37. Masking is different now. It's primarily to protect you, not others.

I keep up on my vax, but I choose not to mask, as do the vast majority of my acquaintances, from left-of-AOC to Genghis-Khan-was-liberal. The calculus of masking has changed — now that proper respirators, N95/KN95/KF94/FFP2/&c are widely and cheaply available, well…wearing one is about protecting yourself — it's a mask specifically rated for airborne pathogens. Protecting everyone else is a nice side effect, but at this point the primary reason to mask is self-protection.

And you know what? That's fine. I ain't judging nobody for nothing…well, maybe the guy I saw wearing a full-face respirator just a couple of days ago, but that's DC for ya!

[Blues Heron]

38. It's the same as it's always been- it's to protect you AND others. Nothing has changed in the calculus.

We should be more like Japan in our concern for others but sadly selfishness has become a national religion. It’s unreal.

[sir pball]

41. Sorry, I wasn't clear - if you have the sniffles, you should be masking.

That is a habit we would do well to pick up from Asia. But even in Japan these days, if you aren't sick, it's only about a 50-50 shot you're masking.

Sorry, but that's just the way it is. People aren't going to keep 90% masking forever, which is pretty much where we are now…whatever measures you're still taking are going to be your new way of living with this endemic.

[hunter]

39. Most of those respirators exhaust any viruses from the wearer unfiltered.

My wife is a front line healthcare worker who bore the full brunt of the covid crisis. She worked through it with whatever protective gear was available at the time, including the trash bag thing and reusing N95 masks far beyond what they were designed for.

She never brought the virus home from work. She caught it from me.

If there's the least chance you've been exposed to or infected by anything, even a common cold, it's courteous to wear a mask. If you are actually sick, please stay home.

I don't have a lot of respect for the "perfect attendance" people, in school or at work.

Sadly, U.S. culture does not accommodate or even respect this common sense courtesy. We're expected to go to work or school so long as we are standing

[sir pball]

40. Yes, masks with exhaust valves do not protect others.

That said, I haven't seen a valved mask in years - here in DC, the few people who do still mask are almost invariably in non-vented disposable KN/N95s, which do filter exhaled air. Of course, if you're not feeling well you should mask, and if you're testing positive you should be isolating. I was only speaking to day-to-day life, when you're feeling fine and going out to the shops or to dinner.

[Happy Hoosier]

42. I don't mask anymore. I also haven't had COVID.

Do as you like, of course. And I would never criticize anyone who chooses to mask for whatever reason. However, COVID is now endemic. Unless I plan to keep wearing a mask the rest of my life, I'm done with that.

My position is subject to revision as time goes on, and new variants arise.

[Greybnk48]

46. We masked for two years, and we are talking of starting again.

We've had COVID, myself twice, but it was from people barging into our house unmasked. One was a relative and a nurse! And she was an anti-vaxxer. She infected all three of us in a matter of 5 minutes or less. She was sick when she came in.
After that, everyone was banned entry. Period. Until we felt it was safe.

[Skittles]

52. I think people know, they just don't care

they certainly don't care about protecting others

[GP6971]

54. Hello. You sound nice.

[Ferrets are Cool]

55. I'm with you