BowSowy said:

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Marissa99 said:

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Please stop making this about living in fear. It has nothing to do with that.


It's about following TEMPORARY basic public health guidance to keep you and others safe.

Abbott's decision today is premature. We're so close to rounding the corner on the pandemic.

Pandemics do end. Look at history.

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Excuse me if I'm tired about hearing how SO CLOSE we are to flattening the curve, keeping hospitals from being overrun, or getting people vaccinated. If we wait just a few more months until we get more vaccinations, some other excuse will come up. Enough is enough.

Also, you can take your "temporary" guidance and shove it. There's been nothing temporary about this.

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We're are what, week like 48 of two weeks to flatten the curve?

culdeus said:

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t - cam said:

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Harry Stone said:

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3rd Generation Ag said:

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I already have to place myself at risk by teaching every day. I am lucky that at 72 I was able to get the vaccine first dose in January, secon in February. But schools even with the supposed extra cleaning are dirty places. And even with the mask mandate, cover your nose has been the most frequent teacher comment all year. I live in an over 55 apartment community and we have had several deaths from covid among my friends. First I don't want to be the Angel of Death and bring anything back here and second I was never lucky when it came to things that were 95 percent. I have zero luck and never have had any. So I take precautions. Other than school, and seeing my kids right after Thanksgiving and Christmas, I have stayed in. Ordered from Amazon or Curbside at Kroger/Walmart. I want to still be here when we get to the other side of this, and I think in a couple of months more, things will be safer as more get the shots. In my department of 30 teachers, only four of us have been able to get the shot so far. Me due to age, and three due to very high risk health issues. Even with many kdis opting for virtual, we have new student cases regularly, almost daily. And that is with masks and social distancing desks.

I never ate out in the first place. I would have already shopped, but the Ice storm hit the weekend that was two weeks, and last weekend I thought shelves would be too empty still to be worth any risk. Will try to get to the grocery this weekend before a total lifting officially hits, then sit things out probably until summer.

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not to sound harsh here but youre 72 and have lived your life. you already take necessary precautions but youre also being selfish by not letting your kids live a normal life. if you want to see your kids, im sure theyll take every precaution to protect you. but in the times you dont see them, dont you want them to have a normal life? this virus is never going away...ever again. you need to realize that so you know either these restrictions will be the rest of your life or you can just accept fate and let everyone just live their life because right now nobody is.

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I'm not sure I fully understand what's been so different with everyone's life in Texas. I wear a mask everywhere. I try to stay away from people as best I can. I go to friends houses, eat at restaurants that spread out their tables, send my kids to school and work from home. The only real change I got out of COVID was a mask and a bunch of extra money in my pocket while not commuting and eating at home for lunch most days.

I get it if you own a business or are in a line of work where you were directly impacted but I'm guessing the vast majority of Texans with decent jobs didn't get nearly as pinched as they want to lead on.

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This. I had to wear a mask on the way to a table once. The horror. 99% of my life was the same. I'm sorry others had it worse or far worse but the way people talk I was chained to my bed for a year.

The worst part was not getting to go to Europe last summer and I suppose maybe this one as well.

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It's not about the inconvenience of masks anymore. We're just tired of giving into your fear porn so you can virtue tweet and sleep better at night.

Buried my mother today. 79 years old complications from Covid 19. She caught it in November and it destroyed her. Never got out of bed after November 15. Never ran a fever, and her oxygen never fell below 90%. She was negative by Thanksgiving but we could not for anything get her to eat. She was in so much pain she could not wipe sweat off of her forehead. He underlying conditions were early signs of dementia, though she was driving in 2020, and arthritis issues from contracting polio when she was 6.

The rest is what it is and she was absolutely 100% a Covid 19 fatality.

At the funeral today though there was a sense of relief with her friends. My mom was an extrovert and knew everyone in town, and there were probably 250 people there at an outside service. All were wearing masks but you could see the impact of the vaccinations. There were people who were friends for 70 years that hadnt seen each other in a year hugging like they were at a baby shower. Real tight knit older community that was locked the **** down for a year finally coming out now since they were almost all vaccinated. It was almost a surreal celebration. Most had known two or three or more that had died, and one of their close friends actually died today from Covid 19. I could feel the awkwardness and relief in giving hugs for the first time in 11 months.

But they are the at risk and they are vaccinated. And if they are not it is there choice not to be. My much younger biological father caught it last year and is fine. It is a ****ty disease and **** the chinese, but now that the older vulnerable population is vaccinated it is time to move forward.

Ol_Ag_02 said:

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culdeus said:

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t - cam said:

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Harry Stone said:

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3rd Generation Ag said:

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I already have to place myself at risk by teaching every day. I am lucky that at 72 I was able to get the vaccine first dose in January, secon in February. But schools even with the supposed extra cleaning are dirty places. And even with the mask mandate, cover your nose has been the most frequent teacher comment all year. I live in an over 55 apartment community and we have had several deaths from covid among my friends. First I don't want to be the Angel of Death and bring anything back here and second I was never lucky when it came to things that were 95 percent. I have zero luck and never have had any. So I take precautions. Other than school, and seeing my kids right after Thanksgiving and Christmas, I have stayed in. Ordered from Amazon or Curbside at Kroger/Walmart. I want to still be here when we get to the other side of this, and I think in a couple of months more, things will be safer as more get the shots. In my department of 30 teachers, only four of us have been able to get the shot so far. Me due to age, and three due to very high risk health issues. Even with many kdis opting for virtual, we have new student cases regularly, almost daily. And that is with masks and social distancing desks.

I never ate out in the first place. I would have already shopped, but the Ice storm hit the weekend that was two weeks, and last weekend I thought shelves would be too empty still to be worth any risk. Will try to get to the grocery this weekend before a total lifting officially hits, then sit things out probably until summer.

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not to sound harsh here but youre 72 and have lived your life. you already take necessary precautions but youre also being selfish by not letting your kids live a normal life. if you want to see your kids, im sure theyll take every precaution to protect you. but in the times you dont see them, dont you want them to have a normal life? this virus is never going away...ever again. you need to realize that so you know either these restrictions will be the rest of your life or you can just accept fate and let everyone just live their life because right now nobody is.

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I'm not sure I fully understand what's been so different with everyone's life in Texas. I wear a mask everywhere. I try to stay away from people as best I can. I go to friends houses, eat at restaurants that spread out their tables, send my kids to school and work from home. The only real change I got out of COVID was a mask and a bunch of extra money in my pocket while not commuting and eating at home for lunch most days.

I get it if you own a business or are in a line of work where you were directly impacted but I'm guessing the vast majority of Texans with decent jobs didn't get nearly as pinched as they want to lead on.

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This. I had to wear a mask on the way to a table once. The horror. 99% of my life was the same. I'm sorry others had it worse or far worse but the way people talk I was chained to my bed for a year.

The worst part was not getting to go to Europe last summer and I suppose maybe this one as well.

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It's not about the inconvenience of masks anymore. We're just tired of giving into your fear porn so you can virtue tweet and sleep better at night.

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I think you should refrain from posts like this on this forum. You aren't going to agree with everyone but that shouldn't stop you from trying to understand where they are coming from.

Florida is 27th in deaths per capita(and I'm 99% sure with and older population) and California is 29th.

Both middle of the pack. And even slightly better than average. I think most who are against mandates are okay with either numbers, only one got there with more freedom

I didn't say anything about flattening the curve.

Like I said, look at history as a guide. Unfortunately, if a pandemic isn't contained at the outset, it's going to last a while. I wish it wasn't the case.

Trust me, I want the pandemic to end. But it's too premature to lift the mandate now and open Texas 100 percent now.

I think it's be best to open in June when it looks like we'll have more of our state population vaccinated.

I didn't issue the guidance. So I have nowhere to shove it, my friend.

Value of life, freedom, our future, all that comes with it. An ideology more so than politics for many of us

Also when you say 10%, you literally mean 11 out of 1
Million people. 133 versus 144 out of 1 million.

Statistically insignificant and hard to argue or attribute to policy

It's not about fear. Please stop making it about fear.

Marissa99 said:

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I didn't say anything about flattening the curve.

Like I said, look at history as a guide. Unfortunately, if a pandemic isn't contained at the outset, it's going to last a while. I wish it wasn't the case.

Trust me, I want the pandemic to end. But it's too premature to lift the mandate now and open Texas 100 percent now.

I think it's be best to open in June when it looks like we'll have more of our state population vaccinated.

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More like, I want this pandemic to end and therefore I think it's premature to lift the mandate now.

It's not anti-freedom, it's not pro-fear, it's being willing to make a very small sacrifice to continue slowing the spread until enough people are vaccinated. A perfectly reasonable position to take.

But Abbott and co got impatient. They saw the numbers declining and concluded "pandemic over." I'm very happy about the progress that has been made and I dont want our impatience to undo it.

Definitely not inpatient. Months behind for many of us

t - cam said:

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Ol_Ag_02 said:

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culdeus said:

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t - cam said:

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Harry Stone said:

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3rd Generation Ag said:

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I already have to place myself at risk by teaching every day. I am lucky that at 72 I was able to get the vaccine first dose in January, secon in February. But schools even with the supposed extra cleaning are dirty places. And even with the mask mandate, cover your nose has been the most frequent teacher comment all year. I live in an over 55 apartment community and we have had several deaths from covid among my friends. First I don't want to be the Angel of Death and bring anything back here and second I was never lucky when it came to things that were 95 percent. I have zero luck and never have had any. So I take precautions. Other than school, and seeing my kids right after Thanksgiving and Christmas, I have stayed in. Ordered from Amazon or Curbside at Kroger/Walmart. I want to still be here when we get to the other side of this, and I think in a couple of months more, things will be safer as more get the shots. In my department of 30 teachers, only four of us have been able to get the shot so far. Me due to age, and three due to very high risk health issues. Even with many kdis opting for virtual, we have new student cases regularly, almost daily. And that is with masks and social distancing desks.

I never ate out in the first place. I would have already shopped, but the Ice storm hit the weekend that was two weeks, and last weekend I thought shelves would be too empty still to be worth any risk. Will try to get to the grocery this weekend before a total lifting officially hits, then sit things out probably until summer.

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not to sound harsh here but youre 72 and have lived your life. you already take necessary precautions but youre also being selfish by not letting your kids live a normal life. if you want to see your kids, im sure theyll take every precaution to protect you. but in the times you dont see them, dont you want them to have a normal life? this virus is never going away...ever again. you need to realize that so you know either these restrictions will be the rest of your life or you can just accept fate and let everyone just live their life because right now nobody is.

---

I'm not sure I fully understand what's been so different with everyone's life in Texas. I wear a mask everywhere. I try to stay away from people as best I can. I go to friends houses, eat at restaurants that spread out their tables, send my kids to school and work from home. The only real change I got out of COVID was a mask and a bunch of extra money in my pocket while not commuting and eating at home for lunch most days.

I get it if you own a business or are in a line of work where you were directly impacted but I'm guessing the vast majority of Texans with decent jobs didn't get nearly as pinched as they want to lead on.

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This. I had to wear a mask on the way to a table once. The horror. 99% of my life was the same. I'm sorry others had it worse or far worse but the way people talk I was chained to my bed for a year.

The worst part was not getting to go to Europe last summer and I suppose maybe this one as well.

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It's not about the inconvenience of masks anymore. We're just tired of giving into your fear porn so you can virtue tweet and sleep better at night.

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I think you should refrain from posts like this on this forum. You aren't going to agree with everyone but that shouldn't stop you from trying to understand where they are coming from.

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Nah. I'm good. I've understood for eight months now. I'm done with it.

Feel free to keep wearing a mask, staying at home, or whatever else makes you feel safe.

Life is fatal. No one gets out alive.

agsalaska said:

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Fitch said:

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Very sorry for your loss, and thank you for sharing.

I'll be going to two or three 'celebrations of life' this year, close to a year after the individuals passed, and look forward to being a part of what you described.

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Thanks.

And it is surreal. I live in the country and other than missing live music and Kyle Field have been mostly normal since June. It is always weird to me to go into the city(in this case DFW), or more relevant into a group of seniors, and see how they have been living. There fear is wholly 100% no doubt about it justified. The vaccine is an amazing thing.

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I'm sorry for your loss.

I know someone who watched her own mother die from covid last month. The whole family got it and later tested negative, but the mom continued to suffer symptoms that worsened until she literally stopped breathing from it.

It really makes my blood boil seeing posts in this thread and in forum 16 belittling people for having genuine concerns about this virus. Yes we know most cases are mild. But very many arent and if no amount of death will convince them this is serious, nothing ever will. It's become politicized too much.

We are in position now. We were in position months ago, and June will be just fine

In fact virtually nothing is changing. Places were still open. Indoor dining where a mask was useless was still happening. 7-8 minute Trips to heb where you aren't even in contact with a single individual for more than 10-15 seconds, with or without a mask, aren't what was/is going to cause the spike. The vast majority has been, and always will be private gatherings in which no mandates were in place nor abided by. The same people gathering before will gather now in private settings.

You guys are way overreacting to the likelihood this changes our numbers and trajectory one iota

larry culpepper said:

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agsalaska said:

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Fitch said:

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Very sorry for your loss, and thank you for sharing.

I'll be going to two or three 'celebrations of life' this year, close to a year after the individuals passed, and look forward to being a part of what you described.

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Thanks.

And it is surreal. I live in the country and other than missing live music and Kyle Field have been mostly normal since June. It is always weird to me to go into the city(in this case DFW), or more relevant into a group of seniors, and see how they have been living. There fear is wholly 100% no doubt about it justified. The vaccine is an amazing thing.

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I'm sorry for your loss.

I know someone who watched her own mother die from covid last month. The whole family got it and later tested negative, but the mom continued to suffer symptoms that worsened until she literally stopped breathing from it.

It really makes my blood boil seeing posts in this thread and in forum 16 belittling people for having genuine concerns about this virus. Yes we know most cases are mild. But very many arent and if no amount of death will convince them this is serious, nothing ever will. It's become politicized too much.

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Man, I literally watched my mom stop eating.

One thing I have noticed over the last several months is the amount of people acting like it is nothing has diminished greatly, mostly because they saw or knew someone that got totally Fd by Covid. But the problem is it was polarized. One side claims science, then forces you to wear masks at youth soccer games or, even worse, continue to keep schools closed. The other acted like it was all a nothing burger.

Most of us understood it was something in the middle, and if those voices would have been heard earlier a lot of things would be different. But that's not the world we live in.

And, for the record, I 100% without a doubt support the decisions today. Time to move forward.

for those up in arms about this, its pretty simple -

if you're in group 1a or 1b: get the vax if you haven't already and then you have no reason to stress over people not wearing masks. I don't personally know a single 1a/1b person in TX who wants the vax and hasn't fairly easily gotten at LEAST 1 of the 2 shots as of today.

if you're NOT in group 1a or 1b - the "science" says that you getting covid isn't likely to be so devastating that the rest of society needs to be *mandated* to walk on eggshells when out in public to decrease the odds of it happening

you can of course still a) lay low b) wear a mask 24/7 if you'd like and c) get the vax (according to Biden) within a couple of months at worst

This isnt going to change anything

Mask wearing hasnt really done much to slow the virus. The cdc says there was high compliance yet we still had lulls and spikes. This been remarkable consistent trends amongst all states and countires regardless of covid policies.

The reality is it's a winter respiratory virus which likely has been encountered by over 100 million people in the usa already and now millions a day are recieving a vaccination.

A state mandated mask means little towards virus control, both at the beginning and now. It's more symbolic than anything else.

Marissa99 said:

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Please stop making this about living in fear. It has nothing to do with that.


It's about following TEMPORARY basic public health guidance to keep you and others safe.

Abbott's decision today is premature. We're so close to rounding the corner on the pandemic.

Pandemics do end. Look at history.

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No, it 100% is about fear. You still believe people will be lying in the streets and a large percentage of the population will die off, but it hasn't and it won't. We're a year into this "temporary " loss of freedom and know a lot more today than we did this time last year, so we can make educated decisions on when and how to reopen.

Marissa99 said:

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I didn't say anything about flattening the curve.

Like I said, look at history as a guide. Unfortunately, if a pandemic isn't contained at the outset, it's going to last a while. I wish it wasn't the case.

Trust me, I want the pandemic to end. But it's too premature to lift the mandate now and open Texas 100 percent now.

I think it's be best to open in June when it looks like we'll have more of our state population vaccinated.

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And "looking at history as a guide" we know you'd just find another reason to delay in June.

Aston94 said:

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This, I agree with. Really just puts some 18 year old kid working as a greeter at Chili's in the cross hairs.

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That's the part of this that's so surreal. Night before last (so pre mask/opening up) I was at Hopdoddy's in Cedar Park with my family and my mom.

For the record, I mask up and will continue to do so in large public places until 2 weeks after my second shot. We eat out but choose places where we can eat outside.

Anyway we're eating, but get up to take my youngest to the restroom when I pass by this muscled up dude asking why he's being discriminated against because they require him to wear a mask. He said he had a medical release in his car and would go get it. Ended up trying to come back in with the mask. I mean this dude is fit as hell and can't think of a condition that would prohibit it so it made the scene that much more ludicrous.

My point is, I get it, you don't believe in masks. Ok that's fine, make your stand. He was literally hammering a girl that was maybe 18. I mean what change do you invoke yelling at an 18 year old kid making minimum wage?

I respect his point of view, but he just looked like an idiot rambling on about being discriminated against.

Fitch said:

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The labels on that chart somewhat distract from the fact that Florida's deaths per 1M is about 10% higher than California's, and the more onerous (draconian?) measures were put in place after exponential growth had already started in mid-November.

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That's a good illustration of Simpson's Paradox.

Florida is a bit worse overall due of state demographics, but has a lower population fatality rate in both 65+ and under 65.

Marissa99 said:

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I'm with you on this. I truly feel like we're rounding the corner.

I actually would have been on board if Abbott had outlined a plan to re-open in line with guidance from health officials. Now that more people are getting vaccinated, I would've been on board with hearing a plan that was more thoughtful instead of what seemed like a hastily made decision.

I truly think we would've been in a position to potentially fully re-open in June especially with scaled up vaccinations. But now, I'm not so sure...

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Abbott had guidance from health officials. They just weren't the health officials with opinions you happen to agree with.

What happened to other states that removed mask mandates?

There is no data out there that suggests what you are saying.

Florida restaurants are doing fine in comparison to just about anywhere else. If I were a restaurant in say,,, California. Then I'd be s****** bricks.

Also, in what world is there a person who was going to a restaurant before who won't be now? Did they really think the 22 seconds out of the 50 minutes they were in the restaurant made a difference?

Oil went to zero closer to the beginning of this with a whole heck of a lot more uncertainty. Most people stand where they stand. They are either tired of this and ready to move on/take their chances, or they were concerned with or without a mask and not going to places like restaurants anyways. We had a bigger spike this winter with mas mandates than the spike we had without them.