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Local Montanans Decide They’re Done Wearing Masks
I first noticed the pattern when picking up my cheese pizza at Little Caesar’s. Signs were everywhere: “Due to the Coronavirus, we are asking that you not wait in the lobby.” “Due to the governor’s order, masks are required for entry into this establishment.” With a little intake of breath, I realized I’d left my mask in the car. Then I saw that no one behind the counter was wearing a mask. Neither was the other customer, a man waiting casually in the lobby for his special order. The next time I got a hankering for pizza, I noticed the same thing. Montanans in our town are just finished with the mask mandate, and certain establishments and their clientele have tacitly agreed that going maskless is fine.
If I had a graph of mask compliance around here, it would show a steep, narrow curve. It’d start with about a third of locals in the stores wearing them, often older women and workers. Before the governor made the order, there were national guidelines, and probably some state and county recommendations, too, so we all had the feeling we were supposed to be wearing them. But the mask wearers stood out. And then the governor gave the order in July, some weeks after our re-opening, enforced through the businesses. Everyone was masked, and one of my friends told a story about being ordered out of a coffee shop after protesting she had a health condition, and told never to return. My graph shoots up to about 98%.
Then after some weeks, I noticed a trend of shoppers and workers wearing the masks right under their noses. They were wearing them just enough to avoid accusations of non-compliance. Not sure what that does to my graph. Enthusiasm was certainly falling. And now I go into places where almost no one is wearing a mask, or they’re doing it with the mouth-only compromise. They are only sort of wearing them. The line of my graph plummets down to 20% or so, except for in the number of stores that still strictly require them for entry.
The other night, upon entering a taco shop, I noticed that an older man and a younger one, presumably his son, had gone in right ahead of me. It was actually hard not to notice them, because before they strolled to the entrance, they were yelling back and forth, something about their car. It sounded like they were upset, but once in the restaurant, they appeared chummy and cheerful–Montanans do that sort of thing with their conversation decibels, and this public volume often has no correlation to feelings of anger. However, I also noted two other factors that had me tensed for some unpleasantness. First, there were signs pleading with customers to wear masks. One said: “Be kind. We are just trying to stay open.” I felt the pathos of the plea, and the resolution to uphold the requirement. Second, however, I saw that this vocal pair were not wearing masks, and neither were the required accessories anywhere near their persons.
But nothing unpleasant happened. The older man leaned up against the tall counter, behind which were both masked and sort-of-masked employees, and deliberated on his order. Near me stood another pair of customers who were not going to ruin their dinner out with face coverings, and a lady next to me who had her mask under her nose. “Do you want guacamole with that?” I could hear the server asking. The older man, after considering, said, “Yeah, go ahead and put all of the good stuff on it” in the same way a diner at a fine restaurant would order the hundred-dollar bottle of wine to go with the meal. He was already splurging on this pleasant fall evening, so he was going to go all out. Guacamole and everything. As they were ringing him up, the employees warmly wished him a great day. And they meant it.
Published in Politics
The problem with that (now popular among the hysterical) mathematical herd immunity number is that it essentially envisions humans as a big drum full of marbles, constantly being turned. If you look at any of the facebook/twitter-level “explanation memes,” you can see that this is the assumption. Of course, real life doesn’t work that way. There are quite a lot of reasons why the number would be significantly lower than the mathematical number. People don’t all interact with one another, for instance. There is some pre-existing immunity. There is an enormous number of people who are relatively unaffected by this (anyone under 20, and most people under 70). Etc… etc… etc…
The assumption is that we start with mathematical models for herd immunity. Of course, any legitimate scientist would test that assumption … evidence from that testing would lead to modification. Actual science has been thoroughly rejected over the past 9 months, though. If you engage in that sort of behavior, you will be censored, deligitimized, shut down… Meanwhile, these natural experiments keep occurring, and we can see that the “herd immunity” threshold is significantly lower than previously assumed (and currently claimed).
Exactly
There’s a link in that excellent AIER column to a 2-hour video discussion with the four epidemiologists who initiated the Great Barrington Declaration. I’m watching it now, although in some spots it’s a bit difficult to follow because the audio is not the greatest. So far, a statement by Martin Kulldorff (Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School) on the risk of Covid-19 is key: “One more thing in the list of things that could happen to us.”
My Kaylett and her fiance are in isolation, both are ill. She has been tested twice and is under observation by a nurse. Her oxygen levels alternate between 88 and 92. Other than being short of breath, no energy and occasional cough, says she feels fine. No prayer page so please keep her in mind as she has M.S.
I’m sorry to hear that she is sick!
Incase I get hit by a bus, this is the greatest anti-mask article of all time. Sorry for the lack of quotes
https://www.aier.org/article/the-year-of-disguises/
I can put you on the prayer page if you like.
Excellent article. Science!
This is absolutely hilarious about cloth masks. Start at 21:00. You cannot make it up. —-> Ep. 1756 The COVID Mask Controversy https://tomwoods.com/ep-1756-the-covid-mask-controversy/…
I went into a store yesterday (a small kitchen type store) and I refused to use the hand sanitizer – was told not to touch anything. Later an employee approached me and told me to pull my mask (the old dirty one I’ve been wearing for months) up over my nose. Maybe I should carry a copy of this picture with me:
Well, this year gets even weirder. Below is an e-mail update from my church this week: