Originally Posted by
Patriot76
My life has not changed except I am more respectful of the people I am around. Pnutfarmer reinforced this strategy. After the low prices and three shoulder surgeries I am ready to get back at it. Cut and hauled 8 tons of HMS & # 1 cast this week and did not interact with anyone that was not outside.
Body language speaks volumes as to what others expect and I am fine with different perspectives. Masks are not my friend and other than medical facilities I avoid businesses that require a mask. My fear is for those at high risk and I am thankful that the majority of those at risk are older and not the younger generations. Social distancing is a natural lifestyle here.
The two states I inhabit have left it up to the population to make their own decisions in most situations. Less than 1% of the population wore masks early in the pandemic, 50% wore them with the increase in infections in our counties, and now 85% are wearing masks. The point is that respect, not fear drives our decisions.
We will still have a family Thanksgiving without limits to the number that attend, we will not be wearing masks inside our own home with visitors, and will provide an outdoor table for those that prefer (this is out of respect for Gavin, the governor of CA.). We will learn to live with the virus instead of learning how to die with it.
Bottom line is we will continue to live life without fear, but we respect the power of the virus and other individuals we interact with. I prefer interacting with animals and nature over other individuals. I have been isolating long before the pandemic.
My prayers and empathy go out to all of those suffering from the virus. With that said it will be business as usual.
Your way of doing things seems much more sensible.
I think a lot of it breaks down to politics.The folks in the middle part of the country are more conservative. The folks on the East and West coasts tend to be more liberal. Maine is about evenly divided with the southern coastal areas being heavily left and the inland farming areas being heavily right. My community is about 2/3 dems and 1/3 reps.
The media has a lot to do with it too. The newspapers here in Maine are mostly center left in the way they report the news. They don't seem to like religion very much. They believe in science. We get outbreaks that happen when people are bunched up in a group. When we get an outbreak that happens in a jail, a school, or a nursing home ... they report it. When we get an outbreak in a house of worship ... they hammer the daylights out of it for weeks on end.
The Governor is a democrat. The Maine State legislature did not convene this year due to the pandemic. It remains to be seen if they will convene next year. As nearly as i can tell ... it's just one person running state government these days. She makes lots of complicated rules, informed by science, and issues executive orders as the situation on the ground changes. Her latest ... was a 9:00 P.M. curfew for most businesses where people gather like bars, restaurants, and movie theaters. Another of her executive orders is that all people, either inside or outside, have to mask up unless they're completely alone.
It's been a strange week. Both my wife and myself work in a retail setting so we are right out there on the front lines serving anywhere from 50 - 200 people a day. My wife's place of employment is an inside setting. Her company issued a mask mandate for the employees awhile ago but they didn't impose it on the customers coming through. Under pressure from local, self appointed, covid police in the medical community, they knuckled under and adopted a no mask / no service policy. I counted fourteen no mask / no service signs plastered on the front doors of the place of business where she works when i went in recently. The place where i work is mostly outdoors in nature. We occasionally have a customer come into the office but we're able to do most of our business outside. The word came down from the main office last monday, that all employees working with the customers have to mask up. I wasn't thrilled about this, but i figured that it's their business, and i am working for them, so they have the right to make the rules. We currently serve all customers regardless of whether or not they are wearing a mask. Compliance rates with the governor's mandate among my customers have been running about 20 - 50%. I doubt that i will be the one to tell any customer coming in that they are not welcome because they are not wearing a mask. I'm not a policeman. I'm just there to serve everyone in my community and keep the wheels of society turning regardless of the risk to myself.
I know that we're best advised to avoid the sensitive issues of religion and politics here in order to keep the peace.
I put this up more for the purpose trying to give others a picture of what it looks like to a guy working at ground level in another part of the country. It's different worlds isn't it ?
Right now ... i like your picture of the world a lot better Patriot.
I try to tell folks "to remain calm and carry on" here but they don't seem to be able to relate to what i'm saying. They've become too used to being told where to go, what to do, and what to think by their leaders and the media. They don't seem to be able to manage their own affairs anymore. < sigh>
Mainers used to be a proud and independent people.
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