I always wear a mask out too. Most of the time I even wear goggles, though that may not be really needed. We're kind of thinking about not using the goggles and have stopped on some occasions. My dad has multiple pre-existing conditions so we just don't want to take any chances that we don't have to. We still let things sit before touching them after we get them from the store. It's really unlikely to get it off a surface. It's just that since we don't go out much, it's not that hard to keep doing that. If we ever got it and something happened, I would want to know that we did everything possible, even if it is rather paranoid.
I got my dad an appointment for the booster last week. When some family in Tennessee can work out a good time to do it, I'll also set up an appointment for my grandmother.
I've also tried to remind some other family members about it that previously got first booster.
Meanwhile, I have other family members, all of them in other states, that never got the vaccine to begin with. (I wouldn't be living with them or around them if they lived around me) And some of them really need to be getting it, not just for them, but for another with pre-existing conditions they are around sometimes. And that really makes me angry, because it's one shot they should get occasionally. The number of people that can't do that one little thing to try to protect an immediate family member they are around sometimes. I would never forgive them if they were the ones that ended up getting the person with pre-existing conditions sick.
I'm sorry that your family has had to go through the loss it has. While it's always sad, in some ways it is harder if it's someone that didn't get vaccinated because they could have chosen to do the right thing and may have lived, but at the same time they made the decision they did. It was all their decision. Some people can't be convinced. I know of some people that can't be convinced too. It just hasn't turned out to be deadly for them yet. And to be honest, I worry about the people they are around that are susceptible, not as much them.
In my branch of the family tree, there have been no deaths from the coronavirus. Only in another branch, like family of a sibling of my grandmother's I think (that I never met when they were alive), that had a few people somewhere in that branch of the tree that died. I don't know if some of my family in other states know of people that have died. I think that does make a lot of difference to people who weren't already being careful due to the virus. It's so sad that for some that's when they take it seriously. And for others, even losing a family member due to it still doesn't change their mind. They still live in denial.
My dad and I usually only ever go to grocery stores and doctors appointments. Sometimes something will break and we need to go to the hardware store. Also had to get the car serviced since it was past time. But we don't go to places we don't need to be. It's just not worth it.
I would say most people don't wear masks here now in the places we go. But at the times we are shopping, and the places we go, there are likely more people wearing masks in these places than other places that people go. I haven't eaten at a restaurant in years. I don't know when I will. I don't know when I'll ever go out without a mask. I could see it being many, many years, not while the virus is circulating anything close to even what it is now.
I wish more people would take the virus seriously. Things are better than they were at the moment, but I wish people would think ahead. I know of someone that had gotten the 1st booster but may not get the second. I assume they're just done thinking about the virus. Not how it works. From a previous conversation months ago that was the impression I got when they were going out a lot.
We buy some stuff online and have it delivered. Each month we also buy groceries from Walmart and get it picked up for free since it's over $35. (Great Value brands are usually cheap and we get a month worth of stuff) My dad gets $25 each month from his insurance company that can be spent there so we go around the 1st of the month. It cuts down some more the time we are around others by not having to shop ourselves there. We usually also shop at Aldi as well and go right when it opens in the morning. We know what we're getting, with a list, and we're quick about shopping. They have some other things we like to get, along with picking out some fresh vegetables for example which is best to do yourself.
Every time I see those robot "dogs" it creeps me out too, but none more than the videos of it from China. With everything China does, it's going to be more than just announcements eventually with those things.
As for other tweets from him, this in regard to England:
My dad is 81, so those are the kind of numbers that I keep a closer eye on. We might see that same kind of thing here, especially since I would imagine less people take the virus seriously here than a lot of other places. In great part due to social media, with people doing their own "research". |