Lauderdale Beach, spring break
Masks used to be stuff you wore on Halloween as a kid. Or a mask was what the Lone Ranger wore. Or mythical gods. Or thieves, serial killers, fictional characters with bad scars. You get the idea. Of course you do. For the last year, masks have been a part of our collective experience of the pandemic.
Ex-prez trump’s politicization of masks has led to all sorts of confrontations in stores that many of us have seen in viral videos or in person. I never understood what the big deal was about having to wear one. We have to wear seat belts. The big difference is that seat belts protect us and our passengers. When you wear a mask, you not only protect yourself but everyone else around you – family, friends, strangers.
When you Google the definition of mask, one meaning is: a covering for all or part of the face, worn as a disguise, or to amuse or terrify other people. Another definition is that it’s used for protection. So the key words are: disguise…amuse…terrify…protect. Well, during the pandemic, I think we can toss out the first three verbs. That leaves us with protect.
If a mask protects you and others, what’s so terrible about wearing one? Oh, the individual liberty thing, right? You can’t force me, you’re trampling my rights, blah, blah, blah. Really? That part smacks of a common mistake: that you’re entitled to your individual rights even if they harm others.
Our governor Ron DeSantis – who yearns for the presidency in 2024 – has thrown open Florida’s doors. Snowbirds, spring breakers, all you northerners and equestrians come on down! No fines for not wearing masks! Vax distribution sites are yours when you contribute hundreds of thousands to my campaign…Well, he didn’t actually say that last part, but that’s what happened in a wealthy community at the northern tip of Key Largo.
What DeSantis doesn’t realize is that regardless of how much he mimics trump, how much of a trump clone he is, in four years it won’t matter. In four years, trump will be irrelevant.
We were doing fine until last weekend in Australia, now from 5 pm tonight my hometown of Brisbane and surrounding areas (me) have to do a 3 Day lockdown because of some positive cases of the UK strain have been picked up.
Masks will be mandatory for the whole Australian state of Queensland now, too.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-29/qld-coronavirus-outbreak-contact-tracing-lockdown/100034850
WOW! HADN’T HEARD THIS, Daz. We got both our Pfizer vaccines, but Florida has more variant cases, I read, then nearly any other state. We’ll still be wearing masks. Stay safe!
Yeah, we only just heard a few hours ago, although we’ve been kind of expecting it since Friday.
My son is a manager at a supermarket here, and he has been called into work on his day off, because shoppers are panic stockpiling for the Easter weekend, as well as the 3 day lockdown, since if we do come out in 3 days time it will be Good Friday … ironically 🙂
This couldn’t have come at a worse time for the tourism industry.
There was a 100% capacity sold out AFL game scheduled for Thursday night (about 40,000 spectators) in Brisbane, but since we will now be in lockdown, that means the game will go to be played in Melbourne instead.
And the Byron Bay Bluesfest held over the other-side of the Queensland border on the Easter weekend probably will be cancelled now, since it’s being reported that two positive cases from Brisbane had been down there on the weekend drinking at two popular Byron Bay bars for a few hours while positive.
Wow, Daz. Talk about symbolism! I thought Australia and nearly every other country on the planet was way ahead of us. Get pFizer is possible. We didn’t have any impact afterward. Megan, our daughter, got moderna and was sick for 24-36 hours. Just her 1st shot, our 2nd.
Keep us posted!
We have only had about 900 deaths so far, so I would say that we are still well ahead of you guys and most other countries around the world … for now at least.
That’s for sure!
The vaccine roll out has only just begun here and only essential health care workers and such have been given the Pfizer vaccine.
They have only just now started getting ready to vaccinate the over 70s and people with compromised immune systems, and that has been a debacle so far, as they have only started taking bookings for vaccinations.
They haven’t started giving them to the over 70s group yet.
The rest of us have to wait for the end of the year to get the AZ vaccine, which is less effective against the UK strain by all honest reports anyway.
So we are screwed as a country if this UK strain gets loose. 🙁
It is beyond my comprehension why people, knowing there is a deadly epidemic, refuse to wear masks. It is a simple preventative. It is also beyond my comprehension how we could have had a “president” who turned an epidemic into a hoax, and mask wearing into a political statement, and has millions of followers. We currently have a sensible, intelligent, and compassionate president, thank the Divine, who is getting us vaccinated as fast as he can, and trying to find economic help as soon as possible too, rather than thumping his bloated chest and spending billions of dollars on the “great wall of trump”.
What’s bottom line incomprehensible to me is how many people still believe trump was a great president.
I so hope you’re right, that in four years Trump will be irrelevant. It’s scary how many supporters he still seems to have. How many are getting on the same bandwagon without him. Congressional elections coming up.
We’ll see.