Coronavirus pandemic

[Max Rockatansky]

Prom and the graduation ceremony are greatly overrated, in my opinion.

I didn't even bother to go to my prom, seemed like a waste of time.  I tried to get out of the graduation ceremony so I could get moving to Phoenix but my Grandma gave me $500 in cash to stay a week for the photo op.  I moved so much as a kid that I had zero attachment to my high school, the people, nor the town.

Probably feels different if you move a ton. I've lived in one town my whole life so I have a bigger connection to my school. Not graduating till 2021 though.

This. I'm not too broken up over not having a senior prom, but I've been in the same school district with the same people since I was four years old. The worst part about this is that my high school has a 100-year-old nationally renowned newsmagazine (The Kirkwood Call) for which I'm the design editor. It's a rite of passage to end your senior year on a publication with a banquet and a whole host of other celebratory gatherings, none of which are possible due to the virus. So prom and graduation don't really matter that much to me compared to that.

In my case we moved six times by the time I was 18.  The last batch of real close friends I had during that time was in Middle School back in Connecticut.  By the time we ended up in Michigan I knew that I wanted to move to Arizona after my older brother (especially after we went off roading and a drinking bender at some questionable locales) showed me the city.  It meant way more for my parents and Grand parents than it did me. 

[wolfiefrick]

Probably feels different if you move a ton. I've lived in one town my whole life so I have a bigger connection to my school. Not graduating till 2021 though.

This. I'm not too broken up over not having a senior prom, but I've been in the same school district with the same people since I was four years old. The worst part about this is that my high school has a 100-year-old nationally renowned newsmagazine (The Kirkwood Call) for which I'm the design editor. It's a rite of passage to end your senior year on a publication with a banquet and a whole host of other celebratory gatherings, none of which are possible due to the virus. So prom and graduation don't really matter that much to me compared to that.

In my case we moved six times by the time I was 18.  The last batch of real close friends I had during that time was in Middle School back in Connecticut.  By the time we ended up in Michigan I knew that I wanted to move to Arizona after my older brother (especially after we went off roading and a drinking bender at some questionable locales) showed me the city.  It meant way more for my parents and Grand parents than it did me.

It means way more for my parents and grandparents than it does for me, too. St. Louis has an absurd obsession with high schools — it's essentially a meme at this point because, if you meet someone for the first time in St. Louis, you will invariably be asked, "Where did you go to high school?"

Both my parents went to the same high school I did and graduated together. My mom, being a popular social butterfly all four years, enjoyed high school much more than my dad, who is a lot like me in that he had a derision for the "popular kids" but was well enough known and enjoyed his time with his closely knit group of friends. It's a miracle they ever got married, and equally as unsurprising that they divorced when I was 13.

Anyways, she, as a result, is far more concerned with the ceremonial aspect of graduation than is he, who couldn't care less whether there's a ceremony as long as I'm happy and get a diploma. I tend to fall more into his camp. It would be nice to have a ceremony (my school promised us we'd have one this summer, but we'll see how well they can stick to that promise given how uncertain the immediate future seems to be), but if there's not, I won't care too much.

[jakeroot]

Prom and the graduation ceremony are greatly overrated, in my opinion.

Remember that it's not for the graduate. It's for their family. I want my degree ASAP but my family wants a legit graduation. This virtual thing will be odd, but a nice holdover until something physical later.

[webny99]

It is interesting to try to avoid the people you meet coming in the opposite direction.  It sometimes becomes like a game of "chicken" to determine who will turn aside first.  The only "rule" that seems to be universal is that you try to avoid the families with small kids.  After that, it's whoever blinks first.

Wouldn't they be on the other side of the street, more than 6 feet away?
Or unless it's a sidewalk: in that case I usually move a bit into the grass, and the other person/people usually do the same.

[Duke87]

As someone who went to his senior prom, I would advise anyone in the class of 2020... you're not missing anything important.

On the other hand, it takes having the experience and subsequent retrospective to fully appreciate that.

[1995hoo]

As someone who went to his senior prom, I would advise anyone in the class of 2020... you're not missing anything important.

On the other hand, it takes having the experience and subsequent retrospective to fully appreciate that.

Heh, I didn't go to mine, and I've never felt I missed anything. But then, I also disliked a lot of the people in my high school class other than my immediate circle of friends.

[jeffandnicole]

As someone who went to his senior prom, I would advise anyone in the class of 2020... you're not missing anything important.

On the other hand, it takes having the experience and subsequent retrospective to fully appreciate that.

Heh, I didn’t go to mine, and I’ve never felt I missed anything. But then, I also disliked a lot of the people in my high school class other than my immediate circle of friends.

I didn't go to mine either...and hell, I didn't even have a circle of friends either.

[SEWIGuy]

Last year i had one kid get his undergraduate degree, one got his graduate degree, took the whole family to Mexico for a week and went on a two week trip to Europe with the wife.  None of those things would have happened this year. 

[Max Rockatansky]

It is interesting to try to avoid the people you meet coming in the opposite direction.  It sometimes becomes like a game of "chicken" to determine who will turn aside first.  The only "rule" that seems to be universal is that you try to avoid the families with small kids.  After that, it's whoever blinks first.

Wouldn't they be on the other side of the street, more than 6 feet away?
Or unless it's a sidewalk: in that case I usually move a bit into the grass, and the other person/people usually do the same.

Most people don't even bother to stay right on a wide walk and take up a spot dead center.  The six foot thing wouldn't even be much of a problem if people actually followed the same right of way they do on a bike or car. 

[tradephoric]

It's interesting to see how the USA was dealing with the H2N2 influenza pandemic in the summer of 1957.  A vaccine was developed early on for the "Asian flu" but the US epidemic reached its peak in October 1957, when only about 7 million people had received the vaccine.  It is estimated the pandemic killed 116,000 in the United States, which is equivalent to 222,000 today when adjusted for population. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19GO1OnoeFI

[J N Winkler]

Wouldn't they be on the other side of the street, more than 6 feet away?

Or unless it's a sidewalk: in that case I usually move a bit into the grass, and the other person/people usually do the same.

Here there are very few sidewalks more than six feet wide, so people often just go onto the grass to maintain six-foot spacing.

Not all blocks have sidewalks, and I used to be annoyed when people would walk along the curb on the right-hand side, thus aiming themselves right at me, instead of walking on the left side facing traffic, as people are supposed to do when they walk in the street.  However, I've come to realize these people are gone a lot faster than the ones who actually walk on the correct side and thus take forever to pass.

[Rothman]

It's interesting to see how the USA was dealing with the H2N2 influenza pandemic in the summer of 1957.  A vaccine was developed early on for the "Asian flu" but the US epidemic reached its peak in October 1957, when only about 7 million people had received the vaccine.  It is estimated the pandemic killed 116,000 in the United States, which is equivalent to 222,000 today when adjusted for population. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19GO1OnoeFI

Too bad they didn't take the measures we did to keep deaths down.

[kphoger]

That says something when you care more about a dead economy than dead citizens.

↓  couldn't help but think of this  ↓

[AlexandriaVA]

Just saw the Blue Angels from the top of a hill in my neighborhood (near King St and I-395). Got them while they were flying north along Columbia Pike towards the Pentagon.

[kphoger]

I'm not about to wear a mask to walk down the street just because I might pass by someone else.

It is interesting to try to avoid the people you meet coming in the opposite direction.  It sometimes becomes like a game of "chicken" to determine who will turn aside first.  The only "rule" that seems to be universal is that you try to avoid the families with small kids.  After that, it's whoever blinks first.

Wouldn't they be on the other side of the street, more than 6 feet away?
Or unless it's a sidewalk: in that case I usually move a bit into the grass, and the other person/people usually do the same.

Here there are very few sidewalks more than six feet wide, so people often just go onto the grass to maintain six-foot spacing.

Not all blocks have sidewalks, and I used to be annoyed when people would walk along the curb on the right-hand side, thus aiming themselves right at me, instead of walking on the left side facing traffic, as people are supposed to do when they walk in the street.  However, I've come to realize these people are gone a lot faster than the ones who actually walk on the correct side and thus take forever to pass.

My neighborhood is hit or miss with sidewalks.  My block doesn't have any, some blocks have one sidewalk, others have two.  When going for a walk, especially without my kids, I often walk on the street even if there's a sidewalk available.  I do this for a number of reasons:  the sidewalk is often strewn with dirt, and I want to track as little of that as possible into the house;  an annoying number of people park their cars in the driveway straddling the sidewalk, which often means walking through their yard (more dirt);  I figure, with the virus panic, people coming toward me on the street would feel less intimidated by my coming the other way toward them than if we were on the narrow sidewalk.  But none of that answers the question initially asked, "Wouldn't they be on the other side of the street?"

When I go for a walk in the neighborhood, especially if I'm with my kids but otherwise as well, I choose which side to walk on primarily based on how many times I'll have to cross the street.  Consider, for example, these two paths for a simple walk around the block:



The brown path crosses a street eight times.
The blue path crosses a street zero times.

I consider it safer practice to walk the blue path, even though that puts me on the "wrong" side of the street 100% of the route.  If the streets had heavy traffic, then I probably wouldn't.  On the other hand, if they had heavy traffic, then I probably wouldn't choose them for my walk to begin with.

[J N Winkler]

My neighborhood is hit or miss with sidewalks.  My block doesn't have any, some blocks have one sidewalk, others have two.  When going for a walk, especially without my kids, I often walk on the street even if there's a sidewalk available.  I do this for a number of reasons:  the sidewalk is often strewn with dirt, and I want to track as little of that as possible into the house;  an annoying number of people park their cars in the driveway straddling the sidewalk, which often means walking through their yard (more dirt);  I figure, with the virus panic, people coming toward me on the street would feel less intimidated by my coming the other way toward them than if we were on the narrow sidewalk.

Pretty much every subdivision in Wichita is hit-and-miss in terms of sidewalks.  I've also found dirt fouling to be common because far too many people use weeds, which don't provide an adequate defense against soil erosion, as their yard covering.

When I go for a walk in the neighborhood, especially if I'm with my kids but otherwise as well, I choose which side to walk on primarily based on how many times I'll have to cross the street.  Consider, for example, these two paths for a simple walk around the block:



The brown path crosses a street eight times.

The blue path crosses a street zero times.

I consider it safer practice to walk the blue path, even though that puts me on the "wrong" side of the street 100% of the route.  If the streets had heavy traffic, then I probably wouldn't.  On the other hand, if they had heavy traffic, then I probably wouldn't choose them for my walk to begin with.

If you walk counterclockwise along the blue path, you are in the street on the left side all the way around and thus are 100% kosher.

I have not checked whether Kansas law has a requirement to walk facing traffic when in the street.  If it does, I would expect the chances of active enforcement within a subdivision to be low.  Nevertheless, it is a best practice, and I prefer not to deviate from it if I can avoid doing so, because I otherwise have to pause to check my six for vehicles overtaking me in my lane.

I have observed that people who are walking their dogs are much more likely to walk on the right, and I have wondered whether this is a deliberate choice to minimize the amount of time they have to spend managing the dog's reaction to strangers.  On foot, propinquity is much more brief when meeting and passing from opposite directions than when overtaking in the same direction.

[tradephoric]

That says something when you care more about a dead economy than dead citizens.

↓  couldn't help but think of this  ↓

People will die!  My favorite part is when he proposes a 4mph national speed limit lol.  These self righteous politicians should lock down the entire world economy until 2024 just to be safe... or people will die!

[Max Rockatansky]

I'm not about to wear a mask to walk down the street just because I might pass by someone else.

It is interesting to try to avoid the people you meet coming in the opposite direction.  It sometimes becomes like a game of "chicken" to determine who will turn aside first.  The only "rule" that seems to be universal is that you try to avoid the families with small kids.  After that, it's whoever blinks first.

Wouldn't they be on the other side of the street, more than 6 feet away?
Or unless it's a sidewalk: in that case I usually move a bit into the grass, and the other person/people usually do the same.

Here there are very few sidewalks more than six feet wide, so people often just go onto the grass to maintain six-foot spacing.

Not all blocks have sidewalks, and I used to be annoyed when people would walk along the curb on the right-hand side, thus aiming themselves right at me, instead of walking on the left side facing traffic, as people are supposed to do when they walk in the street.  However, I've come to realize these people are gone a lot faster than the ones who actually walk on the correct side and thus take forever to pass.

My neighborhood is hit or miss with sidewalks.  My block doesn't have any, some blocks have one sidewalk, others have two.  When going for a walk, especially without my kids, I often walk on the street even if there's a sidewalk available.  I do this for a number of reasons:  the sidewalk is often strewn with dirt, and I want to track as little of that as possible into the house;  an annoying number of people park their cars in the driveway straddling the sidewalk, which often means walking through their yard (more dirt);  I figure, with the virus panic, people coming toward me on the street would feel less intimidated by my coming the other way toward them than if we were on the narrow sidewalk.  But none of that answers the question initially asked, "Wouldn't they be on the other side of the street?"

When I go for a walk in the neighborhood, especially if I'm with my kids but otherwise as well, I choose which side to walk on primarily based on how many times I'll have to cross the street.  Consider, for example, these two paths for a simple walk around the block:



The brown path crosses a street eight times.
The blue path crosses a street zero times.

I consider it safer practice to walk the blue path, even though that puts me on the "wrong" side of the street 100% of the route.  If the streets had heavy traffic, then I probably wouldn't.  On the other hand, if they had heavy traffic, then I probably wouldn't choose them for my walk to begin with.

Locally here in Fresno the lack of side walks or bike lanes for such a large city is surprisingly high.  Generally I run before sunrise and cycle when the sun is starting to come up.  My primary concern is getting hit by a car (which has happened twice) so I tend to run roads that have little traffic (even if they are in bad neighborhoods) or I can get to something like the dirt outcrop of some farmers land.  I try to always face traffic when I run which is counterintuitive to traditional traffic control but it has a huge advantage in that I can see what is coming and have time to get out of the way.  Nobody seems to give a crap if I jaywalk while running but they really do start caring fast if I'm on a bike.  Either way, I'm far more concerned about a vehicle over getting within six feet of someone not wearing a mask.  I would rank dogs as my number two concern, they are chase animals by nature.   

[kphoger]

If you walk counterclockwise along the blue path, you are in the street on the left side all the way around and thus are 100% kosher.

Well yeah, but I don't go the same direction or even walk around the same blocks every time I go on a walk.

I would rank dogs as my number two concern

I see what you did there.

[Max Rockatansky]

If you walk counterclockwise along the blue path, you are in the street on the left side all the way around and thus are 100% kosher.

Well yeah, but I don't go the same direction or even walk around the same blocks every time I go on a walk.

I would rank dogs as my number two concern

I see what you did there.

Actually that's an unintentional pun, but that definitely is a problem in the dark. 

[1995hoo]

Just saw the Blue Angels from the top of a hill in my neighborhood (near King St and I-395). Got them while they were flying north along Columbia Pike towards the Pentagon.

I parked at the medical office buildings on Woodburn Road near Fairfax Hospital. (If anyone watched the Alex Smith documentary on ESPN last night, you should recognize the hospital.) Convenient location because my mom had a few things she wanted to give me and it's near her house, so we met there and saw the flypast. Good place to watch and a beautiful day for it. I'll upload a picture later.

[wanderer2575]

I went to the office Thursday to work.  Coming home, I was caught in a traffic jam due to roadwork.  I actually welcomed it as a sign of normalcy.

[kphoger]

I've been hearing the phrase "these unprecedented times" a whole heck of a lot lately.

Question for those of you who know history better than I do:  Are these unprecedented times?  Or are other pandemics or recessions repeating themselves, and we've just forgotten about them?

[Max Rockatansky]

I've been hearing the phrase "these unprecedented times" a whole heck of a lot lately.

Question for those of you who know history better than I do:  Are these unprecedented times?  Or are other pandemics or recessions repeating themselves, and we've just forgotten about them?

We're just forgetting about pandemics and recessions of the past.  One pandemic I wasn't even aware was discussed today.  The biggest thing we are forgetting is that as a collective civilization most of us live in the moment and don't pay the past much heed.  There will come a time when this all happens all over again and what is going on now will brought up by a few for historical context. 

[oscar]

I've been hearing the phrase "these unprecedented times" a whole heck of a lot lately.

I've usually heard that in commercials, trying to acknowledge the sucky current situation without saying anything meaningful. Makes sense, since the target audience (and probably the ad writers) include people too young to remember the earlier pandemics.