I'm seeing a lot of news stories about how so few Americans are staying at home during this pandemic. One story is using cell phone trackers and defining compliance as staying within a five mile radius of home. Another is unclear on how the data is gathered, but seems to be defining it as staying on your own property. I could go on, but these two examples are sufficient to make my point.
Very few of us are able to never leave their property. We all have essential errands. Essential workers usually drive farther that five miles to do their jobs. Grocery store pick-up services are becoming very popular, but those using said services still need to go (often more than five miles) pick the stuff up.
My grocery and doctor are roughly 15 miles from home. In opposite directions. I'm definitely in violation according to most of these reports. I go to the store twice a month and the doctor every three to six months, depending upon my test results. Most of my other errands are within that five mile limit and I combine errands in the same area into a single trip. That was my usual pattern long before COVID-19.
I'd rather find my own substitute for a 45 ounce Blue Bonnet than further burden the overworked and underpaid. If my choice to shop for myself, even with precautions like a mask and wet-naps, makes me a horrible person, then I'll own it.
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There's also the question of how your area defines the order. A small family group was in the local park when I ran to the pharmacy. A handful of boys on the basketball court were at least attempting to stay six feet apart, playing Horse. A single teenager on a bicycle practiced dumb teenage stunts. None of these people were in violation. Yet, according to most of these news stories, every one of us is part of the problem.
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When you see a news story like this, I urge you to think for a moment. How is the study in question defining compliance? How are they gathering the data? Where are all these people going, if everywhere and everything is closed?
The same is true of stories about those who are arrested for not complying. Regardless of your feelings about the entire situation, a man who was arrested "alone in the ocean" was actually charged with trespassing on a closed public beach. A father who was cuffed "in front of his daughter" refused to identify himself to the police. He had a right to do so, yes, but the fact of the matter is this: He was not charged with anything to do with Social Distancing or Stay-At-Home.
Most of us are complying to the best of our ability, according to what our areas have ruled. Most of the police and even politicians are not going full Hitler on us. The newspapers are just reporting what sells. If we fail to use the critical thinking skills we either evolved or had handed to us by some deity, that's our failing.
My two cents, for what it's worth. Going for food, medicine or medical attention is not violating anything. It's the whole family going to the store when only one needs to go and none of them are social distancing or wearing masks. I see it in Krogers every time I go. And those idiots doing the protests. Few masks and no social distancing. Those people are in violation. But no one says word one to them. On the one hand, it is their right to protest. Right now, it also means they are in violation of local and state curfews and such. The federal govt gave out some recommendations, but they are too far in bed with billionaires who are most likely behind a lot of the protests, because they are actually losing money with their slaves being off work.
ReplyDeleteI think you missed my point.
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