Masks in the Mountains

[AnnaG22]

I carry a mask in my pocket. If I'm going to be near someone else wearing a mask, I put mine on out of respect for their comfort level. For all I know, they might have a compromised immune system or something. No need to make someone uncomfortable when it's so easy for me to put it on. But once I'm 30 feet away, the mask will come off. There's no conceivable risk to them at that distance, and fresh air is a big part of my reason for being out there.

This. I've been making a point of mostly hiking/running in places with few other people for the past year, covering my face when I was within 10 feet of somebody else.
Now that I'm fully vaxxed, I'll have a face covering with me in case I end up in close proximity to somebody I don't know for an extended period of time, but the only time I'm wearing a mask outdoors anymore is if I am in a downtown area around a bunch of other humans.

[Dave B]

I carry a mask in my pocket. If I'm going to be near someone else wearing a mask, I put mine on out of respect for their comfort level. For all I know, they might have a compromised immune system or something. No need to make someone uncomfortable when it's so easy for me to put it on. But once I'm 30 feet away, the mask will come off. There's no conceivable risk to them at that distance, and fresh air is a big part of my reason for being out there.

This. I've been making a point of mostly hiking/running in places with few other people for the past year, covering my face when I was within 10 feet of somebody else.
Now that I'm fully vaxxed, I'll have a face covering with me in case I end up in close proximity to somebody I don't know for an extended period of time, but the only time I'm wearing a mask outdoors anymore is if I am in a downtown area around a bunch of other humans.

cancel culture at its finest

^When did grumpy right-wing-cliché bot join the forum?

[AnnaG22]

cancel culture at its finest

^When did grumpy right-wing-cliché bot join the forum?

a week ago, apparently.

I'm confused where in my post or the one I quoted there was anything that could be painted as cancel culture? I didn't say a damn thing about what I think anybody else should do, just what I've been doing.

[SkaredShtles]

This. I've been making a point of mostly hiking/running in places with few other people for the past year, covering my face when I was within 10 feet of somebody else.
Now that I'm fully vaxxed, I'll have a face covering with me in case I end up in close proximity to somebody I don't know for an extended period of time, but the only time I'm wearing a mask outdoors anymore is if I am in a downtown area around a bunch of other humans.

cancel culture at its finest

^When did grumpy right-wing-cliché bot join the forum?

I shall dub him "Dick."

[highpilgrim]

I shall dub him "Dick."

That name was taken with authority.

Dick (POA)

[XterraRob]

From the Free State of Arizona:

[nunns]

Everyone in the US who wants a vaccine has gotten one (152M per the CDC have had at least one dose). Now we're waiting on the procrastinators and anti-vax'ers to get off their butts. This pandemic is done, time to stick a fork in it and get the service economy off life-support. And get rid of these stinking masks.

https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracke ... ion-trends

Not so. They are only just now being offered to high school age kids. Like you I relish the day when I can throw away my masks forever. But not everyone is quite vaccinated yet.

Sean Nunn

[Somewhat of a Prick]

Everyone in the US who wants a vaccine has gotten one (152M per the CDC have had at least one dose). Now we're waiting on the procrastinators and anti-vax'ers to get off their butts. This pandemic is done, time to stick a fork in it and get the service economy off life-support. And get rid of these stinking masks.

https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracke ... ion-trends

Not so. They are only just now being offered to high school age kids. Like you I relish the day when I can throw away my masks forever. But not everyone is quite vaccinated yet.

Sean Nunn

So wear the silly mask if you're not vaccinated, do whatever you need to do to make yourself feel safe. Leave me out of it though, I don't want to play the mask game any longer. I'm vaccinated.

Also, what is the death rate/hospitalization rate for high school age kids? .0000001%? You are insinuating we have to keep up the mask games for that absurd risk level? Sorry, not playing. And when did everyone being vaccinated become the new standard? First it was dont overwhelm the hospitals, then it shifted to waiting for a vaccine, then it shifted to herd immunity, then herd immunity itself shifted to north of 85%, now its everyone being vaccinated? I can't keep up with this constant goalpost shifting for when this insanity ends.

[nunns]

Also, what is the death rate/hospitalization rate for high school age kids? .0000001%? You are insinuating we have to keep up the mask games for that absurd risk level? Sorry, not playing. And when did everyone being vaccinated become the new standard? First it was dont overwhelm the hospitals, then it shifted to waiting for a vaccine, then it shifted to herd immunity, then herd immunity itself shifted to north of 85%, now its everyone being vaccinated? I can't keep up with this constant goalpost shifting for when this insanity ends.

I am not insinuating anything. Someone made the statement that "everyone who wants to be vaccinated has been." I corrected that. That's all.
Somewhat, you and I are in agreement on a lot. The death rate for high school kids is indeed low, although not as low as you "0000001%". (The fact that I know one high school kid who died from COVID is evidence of that, because I don't know 10 million high school kids.) And I don't plan to wear a mask on lightly trafficked mountains this summer.

Sean Nunn

[Somewhat of a Prick]

Also, what is the death rate/hospitalization rate for high school age kids? .0000001%? You are insinuating we have to keep up the mask games for that absurd risk level? Sorry, not playing. And when did everyone being vaccinated become the new standard? First it was dont overwhelm the hospitals, then it shifted to waiting for a vaccine, then it shifted to herd immunity, then herd immunity itself shifted to north of 85%, now its everyone being vaccinated? I can't keep up with this constant goalpost shifting for when this insanity ends.

I am not insinuating anything. Someone made the statement that "everyone who wants to be vaccinated has been." I corrected that. That's all.
Somewhat, you and I are in agreement on a lot. The death rate for high school kids is indeed low, although not as low as you "0000001%". (The fact that I know one high school kid who died from COVID is evidence of that, because I don't know 10 million high school kids.) And I don't plan to wear a mask on lightly trafficked mountains this summer.

Sean Nunn

The .000001% was being facetious, but it's definitely in the ballpark of many zeros after the "." Anyone can die of covid, just like people die from getting their wisdom teeth pulled. Rare as hell, but there are stories.

I wasn't going after you personally, more so the argument. Throughout this entire thing, the goalposts for when masks stop have moved no less than half a dozen times. Masking after vaccination is the dumbest exercise I have ever seen in my life. There are exactly 0 peer reviewed scientific studies to show that vaccinated people 1) get infected at any sort of meaningful % 2) vaccinated people spread covid (despite what the MSM will tell you), or 3) that the variants defeat the vaccines.

None of those are true. Thats not to say that vaccinated people cant get infected, I remember seeing a study showing out of 63,000,000 about 6000 had become infected. You can do the math there, that's a statistical 0. The variant fear porn is the most maddening of all the FUD imo. Study after study after study has come out showing these amazing vaccines crush the variants, but thats often used as the excuse for why we must keep masking. If anyone wants to read the studies about the vaccines obliterating the variants PM me.

As soon as someone gets their vaccine they should be allowed to hit the eject button from the crazy train and return to a 100% normal life. The fact that we aren't is anti-science and anti-vaxx. Either we believe in the science and the vaccines or we don't.

[Dave B]

As soon as someone gets their vaccine they should be allowed to hit the eject button from the crazy train and return to a 100% normal life. The fact that we aren't is anti-science and anti-vaxx. Either we believe in the science and the vaccines or we don't.

The problem is that a large portion of the population doesn't want the vaccine, which effectively makes them a breeding ground for new variants. Current vaccines do seem to have some efficacy against variants (only J&J trials were after variants emerged, Moderna booster has positive preliminary findings against variants).

It's not just a matter of believing in the vaccines or not, it's understanding the rate at which Covid can mutate and potentially outpace booster development or require a different vaccine altogether. We're in the home stretch, it's hard, but prudence is still needed.

Let's avoid another one of these:

[Somewhat of a Prick]

So we are in "what if" territory now, you admit. Let's make a deal. Vaccinated people can put the masks away and IF a holdout spawns the super variant that defeats the vaccines we can all go get our masks and put them back on.

I'll play by those rules, because I know the odds of that happening are so remote it's not even worth the brain cells to think about