My social circle is mostly 50s-70s and mostly safe with their behavior. Those who I see doing risky things, I just give lots of space when we gather. I don't understand these photo ops where we all wear masks and do good social distancing - and then blow it all by getting close in for a photo and the photographer eggs most into removing their masks.

My job as a wedding officiant has me stuck with unmasked selfies - so I hold my breath - wedding parties do not like wearing masks - even though they may be super on board with being careful otherwise. This puts me at risk as a mid-60s officiant, standing unmasked a few feet away from them for 15+ minutes. I feel I need to be thoughtful about where I can demand mask compliance and where it won't hurt my health nor my income, for business, and in social circumstances, friends.

I appreciate being able to read the reactions of folks here so I don't feel too much in the minority about caring deeply about my own health to the point of being a bit hard nosed when it comes to friends around me. I've done pretty well so far - and I do see it all coming to an end in the months ahead. Thanks.

Wow, that's a year more than most of us have been isolated. I'm lucky to be able to get out safely whenever I choose. I guess I'm just kind of maybe looking to give myself permission to risk friendships over some of these issues. With some, I am of the mind, as the song goes that "I got along without them before I met them, gonna get along without them now." For the most part most people I associate with are very respectful of my commitment not to shake hands, hug, etc. I joke that I won't be touching anyone until I can hug my grandkids.

Really, you're equating pregnancy with a deadly communicable disease that can be passed to others by in-passing contact? Not even close.

I’m not aware of anybody being forced to wear a mask or take the vaccine.

@OldMetalHead no. Wearing masks MAY reduce the spread but 70% of people who contracted COVID reported wearing a mask.

@OldMetalHead, @skado Watch the video of a man being forcefully pulled off a train for not wearing a mask in Philadelphia

@OldMetalHead, @skado, @Heathenist No pinhead. Comparing personal choices made by people and double standards of leftists but since you do mention, when it comes to abortion, what about the life of the child? Same logic when you are guilting people to wear a mask.

@Heavykevy1985
Nobody forced him to take the train.

@Heavykevy1985
Hmm... namecalling instead of information exchange. I’ll check back in five years.

No one is forcing, but there is incentive or perks to doing these things that help society.

For example, most of the stores in my town require a mask to enter. The anti-maskers can have their goods delivered (and pay extra) if they don't want the convenience of indoor shopping for the price of wearing a mask.

We also have small shops that don't require masks, but I wear my super good mask into those shops, because I'm wise. I could choose not to enter, but I take my chances. I'm not putting anyone at risk, but I take a risk by shopping at the only bike shop in town, for example.

Traveling might become easier for vaccinated people (there are ideas in the works for that) which might be the incentive one of my anti-vaxxer friends needs to get the vaccine, since she likes to travel to see her boyfriend a lot. When I pick her up at the airport, I make her wear a mask, well I don't make her, I give her a choice to either wear the mask or ask someone else to pick her up. She'd have to wear a mask in a taxi. So she wears the mask that particular ride in my car.

Her mask/vax actions affect me. If she does or doesn't get an abortion, it doesn't affect me, unless she asks me to babysit.

@Heavykevy1985 Thanks for showing us your mentality. I love it when people out themselves. Makes my life easier.

@skado I would not have not have to use colorful language if you were not in the business of deliberately strawmanning my points

@skado, @Julie808 You take a risk driving to work to go to the grocery store or just merely leaving your house. COVID has a .05% death rate. Nothing wrong with taking the precautions but how exactly are you going to coerce people to wear masks and get vaccinated unless it is by force of the government? There are those who have religious views that prohibit them from being vaccinated or maybe another concern is how the vaccine was rushed. Actually, people’s hands are forced when it comes to wearing a masks. The health department in many localities fine businesses that do not enforce social distancing or mask-wearing. You are wrong on that. Tell me how wearing a mask has stopped when it obviously has not or closing businesses?

Wow Kevin. If you get pregnant you are going to make medical history

@Moravian Not only that, but he is claiming that if he is pregnant, he will make other people pregnant too. LOL

@Moravian, @Heavykevy1985 Perhaps 70% of the people who got corvid did report wearing a mask. But how many times does this have to be repeated. YOU WEAR THE MASK TO STOP YOU PASSING ON THE VIRUS TO OTHER PEOPLE. The protection you get, is accepted as low, though it is still there, too.

@Heavykevy1985 do you have a source for this statistic?

@Moravian nope moron. Both wearing a mask and getting an abortion involve personal choice and should stay that way. Way to totally miss the point

@Fernapple Nope you dumb bitch. Reproductive rights, choosing to get a vaccine, or wearing a mask involves personal choice. Another braying jackasses who misses the plot here

@Heavykevy1985 Wow you're a charmer You are sure going to make lots of friends here.

@Heavykevy1985 Of course they involve choice, but choice is best if based on good information. And choosing to allow yourself to be manipulated, by people who spread disinformation, while making yourself look a fool in public, does not a seem a good choice. But if you are happy with it, then I am pleased for you..

@Heavykevy1985 You are the one missing the "plot" of my post. Social pressure and perks for doing the right thing is not "forcing" anyone to do anything. You make your choices. I make mine.

I'm just gauging in my head how much time I want to spend with my acquaintances who aren't thinkers, but followers of disinformation, and are not thoughtful toward protecting themselves or the greater good.

There are consequences for not being thoughtful. One of my friends likes to join me at music concerts, and during the pandemic we are asked not to sing along with the music, but she does, loudly, right in my face since she sits super close to me, without a mask. I have asked her repeatedly not to sing at the table, but she laughs and continues. Therefore I no longer invite her to our table, which is limited to 6 people max, so she misses out. Others who follow the rules take her place. I'm not forcing her to not sing at the table, but there were consequences for her not abiding by the rules. These concerts are golden, and seats are extremely limited, so it is a huge loss for her not to be invited to the only fun we have on this island, but I refuse to invite someone who directs their droplets into my face, without thinking. These are choices, not force.

Likewise, nobody is forcing vaccinations, but there are perks and incentives in the works to encourage more vaccinations. Right or wrong is not my question. Mine was more of a personal battle I go through with some of my friends/acquaintances who are pretty deep into the woo spirituality and pseudoscience. The pandemic will blow over soon enough, but protecting myself from unthoughtful friends could threaten my health over the next few weeks.

Lucky for me, I just learned I qualify for a vaccine, and I have my first appointment next week, which will make my fears about spending time with some of my friends not so scary.

@Heavykevy1985 And I ask you to stop replying to my post now. I see you are not a respectful person.

@Julie808 actually it is. Government forcing people to shut down their businesses or taking away things because individuals refusing to take a vaccine is force. You are still missing the plot here

@Moravian not concerned making friends with people who take an uncharitable interpretation of the point they are making and someone who is smug and condescending

I hope you are correct.

Not planning to die anytime soon and so I just want to enjoy my good health and happiness as long as I can while also navigating the social delicacies of differences of opinions with people around me and without ruffling too many feathers. It will blow over soon enough and there will be another controversy that will divide us in a different way. Good to look at the big picture though, so thanks.

Damn skippy!

Thanks. Good point about comparing it to getting into a car with a drunk driver, though I'll substitute unmasked riders in my car, or in my home, both of which I'm careful about and do discriminate (in a good way) so not to let folks who are not safe with their own health into my home/car. Just am working up the nerve to say so outloud to their faces if I can't put them off until we're more clear of and danger. I'm protective of my health and make that pretty well known, but also don't want to hurt feelings. Small island and can't afford to lose too many friends, haha.

You will find that even amongst your friends there will be those who are the ones you do not want to associate with but still do.

We can be friends!

@Jolanta They are acquaintances, not friends. (Sorry for my pedantic use of language.)

As a dear friend once said to me "Those that matter don't mind, and those that mind don't matter.".

Hear! Hear!

Perfectly stated! I agree with every word!

Ah, a cradle robber....

@anglophone just kidding, I have five years over my wife. My worst was 20 years, great body and sex, but heads just not in the same world..

@Canndue My ex-wife just turned 42 and I'm 74. She was 28 when I married her. I have had both younger and older spouses during my lifetime --married 3 times and common law once.

Yes, having smarter health examples by government officials would have been a great help. Also it would have saved lives and fear if our former president wouldn't have shown such hatred for Asians, putting them at risk of violence and death for simply having Asian ancestry.

My grandchildren are Asian, and lucky for them their school district is fairly diverse, but in Chinatowns all over the country and even here in Hawaii, there is violence against elderly Asians. We need to look forward in unity to solve our problems, not be sucked into this separatism the right wing agenda foments.

@Julie808 People attacking Asians is more of the emboldened right wing, white supremacists. My comment was noting that through out the Asian continent, masks are quite common, especially during flu season. I was in Japan 40 years ago, and the trend to wear them was just starting to grow. One can see now in the news,etc how overseas certain areas are doing better by wearing masks.

@Beowulfsfriend Yeah, sorry I went off on a tangent about the violence, but do recognize that in Asian countries they are foar more respectful about wearing masks to protect others from sickness, same here in Hawaii where most folks are courteous about wearing masks to protect others as well as themselves.

after all, no offense, but .03% deaths in a year is scientifically quantified as "insignificant" no matter how you slice it?

"Biologists estimate that 380 trillion viruses are living on and inside your body right now—10 times the number of bacteria..."

I'm not worried that I will die. I'm fairly fit with no health complications. But I did suffer for 2 months over a year ago now, with what most likely was covid-19, and I don't ever want to be that sick again. I lost 2 months of my life and livlihood, because no health and economical safeguards were put in place yet. I live on a small island that unfortunately depends heavily on tourism, and one large outbreak could shut us down. Our strategy therefore is to vaccinate all residents who want it before opening up to travelers without quarantine.

The island of Lanai, for example, had zero cases for months, until one family attended a funeral off island and brought the virus back, and within one week it spread to100 people in a population of under 3000, because everyone uses the same stores and gathering places. They only have one small clinic with I believe 1 or 2 hospital beds and limited resources.

My island is bigger than that, but we still only have 9 ICU beds. The faster we get the bulk of the island vaccinated, the sooner we can welcome visitors again and get the economy up and running safely. I work closely with visitors without masks (performing weddings and funerals) and so I will feel slightly more comfortable after I'm vaccinated, and more comfortable when the bulk of the county is vaccinated and the virus is reduced to a more rare occurrence.

I'm good with tax payer dollars going toward vaccinations. It was the voters who voted in the previous government who did not act quickly nor efficiently to slow the spread of the virus. Therefore the consequence is that the voters need to pay for the mistakes of the previous administration.

@bbyrd009 the problem is you work harder to try and minimize the statistics, than you do to prevent spread. Yes, the percentages are low, and if young healthy and invulnerable, it doesn’t pose a great risk to you. But it does pose a risk to a large percentage of the population. We only have 500,000 thousand deaths, but that was with some draconian measures. Perhaps it’s time to unruffle the panties and open the eyes...

ok then, best of luck to yall

@Julie808, @Canndue so, remember when "flatten the curve" was still a thing? I'm curious, are you going to wear a mask the rest of your life, to avoid getting c-19? Bc near as i can tell thats what you'll have to do guys

@bbyrd009 I'll be wearing a mask as long as it seems necessary. The curve isn't flattened yet around most of the country, and that will be my gauge, as well as advice from the CDC and my local health department. We all do what makes us feel comfortable and secure, as well as the good feeling we get when we know we aren't passing along a deadly virus. -- When I was sick last year with what might have been covid, there were no masks, food deliveries, and such. I made sure I stayed in with my windows closed so as not to infect the people walking by my windows and doors. (I live in an apartment) I social distanced myself before that was a buzz word. Because it was the right thing to do. I would not be able to live with myself if I had given the horrible sickness to someone else, knowing I was contagious.

@Julie808 well, you are just a carrier now? no longer contagious?
i dunno, do what seems best to you yeh