I am done with masks
rickdugan
Verified and Certifiable Super-Reviewer
Like the title said, I am done with masks now. There's just no more point. We now have more vaccine supply than there is demand, so everyone who wants it is getting it. What else is there to do?
Here in NE FL mask compliance has become a joke anyway. Stores aren't enforcing their mask policies anymore and they are rapidly disappearing.
At some point, we're just going to have to embrace the reality that we aren't going to vaccinate this virus out of existence. The best we can do is make sure that everyone who wants it has it, which we have done, and let everyone return to normal.
I will tolerate my kids still having to wear these to school until the end of this school year, but not for the next school year starting in August. It just makes no sense anymore - every teacher who wants it has already been vaccinated. I don't want my kids living in this hysterical pandemic fear condition any longer. It has been horrible on kids and is causing a huge strain on our pediatric mental health infrastructure. We need to stop doing this shit to our kids.
Done now, just done.
Here in NE FL mask compliance has become a joke anyway. Stores aren't enforcing their mask policies anymore and they are rapidly disappearing.
At some point, we're just going to have to embrace the reality that we aren't going to vaccinate this virus out of existence. The best we can do is make sure that everyone who wants it has it, which we have done, and let everyone return to normal.
I will tolerate my kids still having to wear these to school until the end of this school year, but not for the next school year starting in August. It just makes no sense anymore - every teacher who wants it has already been vaccinated. I don't want my kids living in this hysterical pandemic fear condition any longer. It has been horrible on kids and is causing a huge strain on our pediatric mental health infrastructure. We need to stop doing this shit to our kids.
Done now, just done.
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105 comments
Enough is enough.
Not really. What a nutcase.
So now we're all responsible for protecting people who choose not to take the vaccine even though they could? For how long? Forever?
I kinda' expected that caliber of response from randumb and the site's uber troll, but had higher hopes of a more rational response from others. It is what it is I suppose. :)
But go ahead and protest and refuse to get vaccinated it’s comforting to the normal among us that there won’t be as many of y’all around to complain about your freedom being infringed upon.
The reality is that most restaurants and stores are not enforcing mask requirements for patrons, except for a handful of chain stores and even those are starting to falter. I was just in Publix today and a 1/3 of the customers and even a few of the staff were maskless (including me). In the bars and gas station convenience stores you're now hard pressed to find a mask in sight. In between those two extremes are varying levels of compliance, but all of it is fading fast.
People are increasingly done with this now and I suspect that, by the end of July, we won't be talking about masks much anymore around these parts, except to make damned sure that the school board understands that we will not tolerate a return to that for the little ones for the upcoming school year.
Here is how I was denied from dressing back in the day:
https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt…
There has been plenty of stuff that kids have to do in the name of following the rules. 🤷🏻♀️ Trust me, children are emotionally tough enough to handle a piece of fabric over their nose and mouth. You might not be, but they are. The requirement will be dropped sooner than later most likely anyways.
Here in the real world of parenting, we are all seeing the impact of this prolonged siege mentality upon our children, like we're living in some endless version of the movie Contagion. Child psychiatric services are now overwhelmed across the country, including here in FL. Also keep in mind that time passes much more slowly for children than adults (it's a brain development issue), so for them it feels like this has been going on forever.
This is the reason that you're already reading isolated stories of parent groups in AZ and FL leaning on school boards to return things to normal. Expect it to become a swell over the Summer months. Also, by Fall parents in places that are STILL doing remote only and hybrid learning are not going to tolerate that any more. Our children have paid a horrible cost in terms of emotional damage over the past year and enough is enough.
Just for some hard data, mental health issues among children has been a decade long trend, not some magical thing that ~only~ appeared because of either a virus or any emotional reaction to a virus.
https://www.mhanational.org/issues/state…
Speaking of the past decade, there has also been a huge uptick in multigenerational living as well. And 2020 for whatever reason didn’t cause that to be temporarily paused. (Tho it should have been IMO-but that is neither here nor there)
You may have the luxury in taking comfort in silly platitudes that getting notions like masks and vaccines away from the public eye will reverse a long standing trend of mental health issues among children. And that school outbreaks can’t possibly affect the adults children come back home to. (And most children tend to love their families just enough they don’t really want to see them die. Or at least I assume)
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases…
Vaccine distribution is going nicely enough now, but no it’s not quite “done” enough yet. It’s okay to advocate for something because in your opinion you consider it favorable for yourself, but arguing anything you advocate is for the chiiiiiillllllddddreeeeeen kinda falls apart. Hey, I’m right with you. Strip clubs without restrictions is good for business. And lonely men grieving because a loved one they know died and they want to take comfort with a pretty young female is also good for business. But I couldn’t possibly ever twist it that it’s good for children somehow.
Maybe next time try complaining about something more nuanced. Like whether bribing people not to work at a rate with better “wages” than many jobs has been helpful or hurting with the virus spread. It would be a lot harder to pick something like that apart.
I don't expect schools to drop the mask requirement until children as young as kindergarten are eligible for the vaccine. At that point I would expect schools to require students be vaccinated against covid the same way they require other vaccines.
I would assume that by next school year that schools would be back to full time in-person classes with parents having the option for virtual learning on a student by student basis. I could see schools having to switch to virtual learning for 10-14 days if there is an outbreak in the district but otherwise be in-person.
Oh wait, you actually did BOTH. When you decide to go full on ignorant you go all-in, don't you? 😉
The pandemic has had a stunning impact on available child mental health services. This is coming not from a scholarly article, but directly from the mouths of boots in the trenches - school guidance counselors who we deal with, other parents (including family with kids in other states) and local mental health providers. We're all dealing with the fallout with our kids and the issues flared up when we started lockdowns and the endless melodrama and hyperbole any time they turned on the TV. It takes weeks if not months now to get a child seen for something, which is happening all over the country, and it is a direct result of the increased demand for services. Many pediatric psychiatry programs are now turning away new patients because they are already overloaded.
The purpose in returning to normalcy is to give the kids normalcy. COVID is not dangerous to them, so continuing to behave like it is causes much harm and very little good. We have a vaccine for anyone who needs it and now that supply is outpacing demand, there's no more reason for these ongoing mandates. COVID is not going away, so we need a different way to deal with it moving forward, preferably one that is much less harmful for kids.
Oh, and to someone who indicated that the schools would try to make parents vaccinate kids, good luck with that. Even if something was approved for kids by then, it's going to be hard to justify given that COVID is not dangerous to them. I don't see many parents being ok with a school trying this as part of some broader public policy agenda.
1. Nobody is currently allowed in the school other than staff or students.
2. My wife had to quarantine 3 times this school year because parents (wealthy and poor) don’t give a fuck and have sent their kids to school sick knowing they were displaying COVID symptoms. After February this became a rare occurrence.
3. One time one kid shut down all the teachers for an entire grade level, the kids worked remotely during this time
Opinion:
1. This kids seem to be doing a good job with mask wearing compliance.
2. I’m willing to bet they wear masks in the fall, unless they’re vaccinating 3 year olds by then, there are kids at the school that young in pre-k.
3. Kids are off the chain this year at school. Most discipline problems EVER. My wife’s theory is kids have been sitting at home unsupervised in front of the computer babysitter from March 2020 to February 2021. Almost a year with out a structure or discipline. A lot of kids and parents were doing the right thin but a lot weren’t as well, zero parent involvement with their curriculum.
Judging by your posts through the years, there is probably way more things contributing to their anxieties than just schools being temporarily closed for a time and mask mandates...
It may end up causing a lost generation. Kids have to be taught sequentially and consistently. Learning is not a switch that can be turned off and on.
Most these kids didn't learn anything during this period and were just automatically passed regardless of aptitude.
I think your kids will be no worse than any other generation for it.
Do as you please RickiBoi, wear a mask don't wear a mask IDGAF, get vaccinated, don't get vaccinated most of us here could care less, too bad for your supposed family but they too, probably are just a figment of your imagination
Actually Rick, yeah, that kinda is the point.
Look, I understand your feelings on this, you are real tired of the societal change this has caused. For yourself, for your kids. I'm REAL tired of it too. We all are.
But as Nicespice said, the vaccination thing isn't quite where it needs to be yet. There are still too many people that the virus can use to further it's aim, which is just to find someone new so it can continue doing what it does. Make people sick, make copies of itself, continue it's existence. It doesn't care what your feelings (or mine, or anybody's) are.
It is all our duty to try to stop the virus; if it gets in you, it should stop there. Cause though you survived it just fine (and we all know most do), maybe the next or the one after that won't survive it just fine. Few people 'know' they have the virus and pass it on on purpose. It just gets 'out' of them to the next person. A mask simply lessens this likelihood. It protects you some, but it protects other people more.
I know its hard to keep doing this. A year is a long time. Suffering and death are real though, as is the fear of such, just like your and my feelings are real. Real people are still suffering and dying, and worrying about possibly being next.
I can endure wearing a mask still (even though I don't NEED to as I'm fully vaccinated). I understand if you can't. A year is a long time. But I think we're just not quite though this yet. Soon. Please, god, soon.
I think I just hate mainstream society. After the past year I can't even articulate my disgust for the sheep. If they stop putting these diapers on I'll wear them just to spite them.
and the smallpox too. i have had smallpox at least twice since this whole covid thing started. i just rubbed some dirt on it and got back in the game. why cant u covid cowards just do that when u get the covid?
when the king of england gave royal ascent to the horrible tea act of 1773 our forefathers did not take that shit. they dressed up as indians and dumped some fucking tea overboard
so dugan shouldnt take this shit either. since he lives in the florida he should dress up with one of those tricorner hats and then go in to one of those publics supermarkets and go right to the tea aisle. then he should have the florida tea party
the florida tea party should start by having dugan take a page from the thomas jefferman by declaring that when in the course of human events people are mildly inconvenienced by being asked to wear the masks during a pandemic we must take a stand and then he should drop his trousers and take a giant shit in the tea aisle. as the coupe dee grace as it were he could then wipe his ass with a mask
people will hoist there new hero rick dugan on their shoulders and celebrate him as a liberator. well they will till after the ass wiping so the dont get the shit stains on their shoulders but theyll still celebrate him as a hero.
i bet dugan will get a medal if he does the florida tea party so lets all encourage him to be our load star guiding us to freedom and away from mild inconvenience
g, you missed the back half of that sentence, by mistake I'm sure. The whole paragraph said:
===> "So now we're all responsible for protecting people who choose not to take the vaccine even though they could? For how long? Forever?"
I guess you didn't pick up the subtext, is that we are NEVER going to vaccinate this thing out of existence. So by your feel good logic, because the virus is still around we would need to do this forever.
But to use your painfully mealy and patronizing posting style, let me see if I can craft the right response: "Look, I get it. You are understandably afraid of the unknown. You have a big heart and never want to stop protecting anybody, even those who refuse to protect themselves. I get it man - we're all there. But at some point we need to reframe our expectations, as hard as that it is to do. Yes, I know, we've been doing this so long that why stop now? But at some point our kids - your kids, my kids, have to return to normalcy. But god please let those anti-vaxxers get their shots before it's too late."
Does that resonate? 😉
Or we can just acknowledge that everyone who wants the vaccine now has ready access to it and that ongoing mask mandates and other restrictions have become pointless unless we intend to do them forever, which I suspect will never be in the cards.
>I'm going to ignore most of the trolling nonsense<
Really than why would you creat a thread of this nature except to troll
Like you don’t realize you don’t have a snowflakes chance in hell of changing anyone s mind , so explain the point,
I know you’re just trolling you know you’re just trolling so give it a rest
This is just virtue signaling from the stupid side.
But hey, perhaps I'm being too harsh. Maybe nobody shared those critical differences with you, so here goes: COVID is not especially dangerous to kids or most people under 50, but polio was devastating to children. So while it is easy to sell a once in a lifetime vaccine to parents who are afraid for their children, it's much tougher to sell parents and other young people on a never-ending annual vaccine for something that isn't dangerous to young people to begin with.
Glad I could help with the remedial learning. 😁
u said we could never vaccinate covid out of existence. what u acktually MEANT is u dont think people actually care enuf to vaccinate this out of existence
for a guy who seems to think he can give the remedial learnings u rly dont think very clearly. maybe u should organize ur thoughts and come back when u can state ur thoughts clearly
just a space geneious trying to challenge u to be ur better self. i will give u a gold star if u can make ur points succinctly and clearly. i know u can do it mr dugan!
your welcome
Hell, even TheOSU thought the Florida tea party was funny and he thinks I some guy who creates multiple characters to fuck with him. Nope, Mr TheeOSU, it is just that your responses to being fucked with are funny so multiple people want to fuck with you! Also, you should work on your paranoia. Yeah, folks want to fuck with you, but on here it is all in good fun. Just relax with your persecution complex!
Back to dugan. He actually got some things right. But then again your major thesis is still dickish
Dugan is right that we won’t be able to vaccinate covid out of existence. Not because of vaccines. A concerted effort would work. But people like dugan don’t give a shit so we’re probably as good as its going to get right now. In other words, we’ve like arrived at the “fuck it, whoever dies dies” point with covid. We could to better, but we ain’t because people are fucking retards.
But here is why dugan is being a dick in this thread. Nobody else pointed out is that many store employees are still being told to wear masks. I know dugan claims store employees ain’t wearing them where he lives in East Bumfuck Florida and maybeeee that’s true...but somehow I suspect he’s seeing what he wants to see and not seeing reality.
So there is some minimum wage worker being told to wear a mask all of the time they are working. But now in comes dugan walking past the “we want you to wear a mask” sign all maskless. Minimum wage Jimmy looks at dugan and says to himself “I ain’t gonna confront this asshat because he’s probably strapped and will go nuts and kill me.” But trust me folks, Jimmy still looks at dugan and thinks “what a dick.”
Maybe dugan is really some sort of princess and the pea kind of guy for whom even 5 minutes in a mask is just intolerable (aka “a giant PUSSY”). As for me, I actually respect the little guy enough that I’ll put my mask on for 5 minutes in the store. And I’ll do it until the store actually takes down the “mask up” signs. Not like I’m wearing masks all the time - just when I go in places with signs saying to mask up. Guess that makes me a sheeple...
But if I’m a sheeple then I guess dugan is just one of them elites that thinks he is better than those proles working minimum wage (in other words, he is “a giant DICK”)
Yet be only vaguely alludes to “school guidance counselors who we deal with, other parents (including family with kids in other states) and local mental health providers.” —which heavily implies he’s dealing with a kid who is being referred to mental health counseling. And yet refuses to say anything substantive about that even. Which means that he doesn’t have any actual points and is just complaining to complain.
BUT I don’t want to even go any further with that because Dr Phil. wins this thread. Well played good sir 🤣
So now here we are, still formulating policies based upon irrational fear responses. Since we agree that vaccines have likely brought us as far as we are going to get, which anybody with a lick of sense understood from the get to was bound to happen, what else are we waiting for? We can whine about human nature as much as we want, but it is what it is and here we are?
What possible rationale could still exist to keep schools closed in some of the larger school districts? Also, since almost everyone who falls in a high risk group has had the shot and whoever remains just doesn't want it, ongoing mask mandates are now pointless unless we intend to do them forever, which of course will never happen.
Also, both usually occur with the goal of picking a fight.
A bigger problem I see is that this crisis has been used as a pretext for the government to print out and pass out large amounts of money. You already see the beginning of inflation. For example, food prices are going up 7% annually. The government is doing this to buy votes and get people hooked on money they get from the government instead of money they get from working.
Employers are complaining of having trouble finding willing workers. I've been having trouble with daily activities. My local barber shop normally has four barbers but now just has two and they have more guys wanting to get their hair cut than they can handle. I went to get my car repaired but couldn't because they only had one employee and he didn't come to work that day. I had a serious injury that required me to go to a hospital emergency room today. When I needed to go home, I couldn't find a taxi company with any extra drivers. The hospital had a police officer drive me home. I'm 64 years old and have never seen anything like this in my life and it is a little frightening that so many people don't want to work and want the government to take care of them instead. This is not going to end well for this country.
The Dems seems hell-bent to stay in power either by force or by buying-off votes - they don't seem to care running the debt to $50-fucking-trillion if it means they can stay in power - the likely reality is that the Dems' policies (all the white-supremacy; critical-race-theory; etc BS) are not popular and they likely know are not popular and thus they seem to resort to buying elections *as part* of their strategy and making people, and the economy, dependent on the federal gov so they have no choice but to vote for them.
We are obviously not going to vaccinate it out of existence and every person who wants one has had it. So...
When do we stop?
Hey I get it. Girls tend to be a bit more scared of things like this and some of the purported men on here are easily as hyper-emotional as scared girls. But when we calm down, poke our heads out from under our beds and rationally assess where things are, We have to ask ourselves: What's the point of continuing this? COVID is not going away. All we can do is protect everyone who wants it and go back to normal.
Unless of course you really think that this is a forever thing? Or maybe you believe that COVID will magically disappear, kinda' like what you used to pretend your Rainbow Sparkle My Little Pony could do? That's just silly girl thinking. 😉
In terms of restrictions, etc., wearing a few ounces of cloth on your face has literally been the least anyone could do and lowest-hanging fruit during the entire Covid-19 pandemic. And, if more people had been mask compliant, it's at least possible that some of the more damaging restrictions would have been unnecessary or at least diminished in scope.
Also ... there would have been fewer dead people. That would have been nice.
When masks become completely optional is a moving target. We all know this without the circle-jerk debate. The scientific community will advise and make decisions. The States and Federal government will also make their own decisions. And, private businesses also have the right to make their own decisions. That being the case, even after I'm able to go without a mask, I'll probably keep one handy in case I wind up someplace where they are required or I feel like it's a good practice to put it on. Because, it's literally no big deal and can only help.
There is a small silver lining to the "year of masks." I know several people who have auto-immune disorders who, pre-Covid, felt weird about wearing a mask in public even during flu season. Now, people who medically should wear masks more often than not feel like mask wearing has been normalized to a degree that they can do so for their own good even when it's not required.
This podium-pounding over not wearing a mask is a weak-sauce "protest" at best.
This was a squishy bunch of fluffer-nutter. Now that the vaccine is widely available and already distributed to the most vulnerable, the continuation of mask mandates and other restrictions is nothing more than a fear reaction and, for businesses, a CYA policy. Mask mandates will disappear not when politicians, risk averse scientists and business leaders apply rational and informed decision making - because frankly that is unlikely - but when enough people signal that they are no longer willing to tolerate it.
===> "This podium-pounding over not wearing a mask is a weak-sauce "protest" at best."
For the reasons noted above, mask mandates are not likely to go away until a critical mass of people will no longer tolerate them. Vaccine distribution to our most vulnerable, which has now been accomplished, was the critical tipping point in turning this from a necessity into something driven more by politics and fear. It is also a stalking horse for a broader discussion of other mandates and the governments ongoing role in restricting our activities.
Now what is a more likely reason his *daughters* most likely have a need for mental health counseling?
A) Masks mandates in schools?
B) Or a basket case parent who projects his own insecurities about himself onto women in general?
@Papi: Exactly. It is political now - ongoing virtue signaling with no underlying rational basis for continuation given the current level of vaccine distribution. I started this thread partially to see if there was a rational competing viewpoint as to why mask mandates should remain, but unsurprisingly I have yet to see one.
Sheesh RickiBoi so very like you, typically antagonistic and personal yet stupid as it gets
You’re developmentally stuck at 12 or 14
Anyway, back on topic, I suppose we'll have to wait for the irrational fear reactions to die down before we see widespread removal of mask mandates. I am eager to see that happen sooner than later as I do not want my children to keep living in this dystopian disaster reality that we have created through the same irrational hysteria.
You started this thread, not for a good back-and-fourth debate, but to passionately to blame masks on causing a “huge strain on our pediatric mental health infrastructure.” And since that fell apart, now you’re trying to steer away from the mental health advocacy stuff and just rant about masks period with the same “painfully forced and repetitive trolling...” that you have done for a little over a year now.
What has caused the strain on our pediatric mental health system are the ongoing state of emergency conditions. The mask mandate is merely one element of that, but the most constant one. Until we get rid of all vestiges of these responses in our kids' lives, they will not return to true normal.
Really wearing a mask is a very threat to your way of life
Too bad they did away with the draft joining the armed forces would have made some of you idiots much more tolerant of people with different views of things.
I live in a blue state and the kids are back in school and all the businesses are fully open. No masks are required outdoors. We’re supposed to wear masks indoors if we can’t socially distance. Is it effective? Who cares. It’s literally the least intrusive thing I can be asked to do. I certainly don’t need to tell everyone else how to live their lives.
But IMHO it's time for Nanny types who wish to impose it upon others to stop now. The state of emergency requirements need to end and that includes mask mandates.
Btw 25 I just swung by Publix to grab my lunch and now it was a full half of the customers without masks. We'll see what it's like another month from now.
As far as our kids’ mental health and avoiding pandemic fear, I think that’s handled by sensibly talking to our kids.
Great that you think so Huntsman. Too bad that they are being exposed to never-ending breathless COVID melodrama all over social media, on the news and even in their schools, with panicky teachers and school administrators passing along very different messages. Shit one of my kids even has a hyperventilating (literally) dance instructor who panics every time they have to be in a public performance.
If we could completely control the message then that would be great, but unfortunately other adults are contributing to this never-ending "state of emergency" vibe. Indeed I've never been so disgusted with the utter lack of emotional fortitude among too many grown adults as I've seen during this "pandemic."
https://tuscl.net/discussion.php?id=7210…
https://tuscl.net/discussion.php?id=7303…
https://tuscl.net/discussion.php?id=7379…
^The breakdown goes even further.
I was never thrilled with it, but I did it where I needed to. In church for example, where a lot of old people congregate. I also routinely masked up in stores, banks, restaurants, etc. Strip clubs are a different story (and two of those links focused on clubs), but no old vulnerable person should have been in those places anyway if they were worried about COVID.
But not now - post vaccine. If Publix or Walmart want to kick me out then so be it, but I'm sure they won't. I'm done now.
(Probably 61 days at most, hopefully less)
Me,too.
Masks should not be a political issue. They are a medical prophylactic device. Whether or not you wear a mask should be between you and your healthcare provider, and at the discretion of the property manager (i.e. I can dictate if I require masks in my office/home).
I’m specifically going to hone in on an intelligent point that the Phil Ape made inadvertently. Specifically, the Florida tea party suggestion.
I sometimes find it quite relaxing to hire a stripper for some housecat play. As an anthropomorphic lion I usually shit in a bathroom. I have installed a squat toilet because typical toilets are hard for creatures with tails, but a lot hairless apes in this crazy world uses squat toilets anyway, so no biggie.
However, I have devoted a room in my house to housecat play. I’ve covered the floor in kitty litter and when I feel the need for housecat relaxation I go into said room and crap. Then I say “hey pretty ape, kitty made boom boom in the sandbox....meow”. At that point the hairless ape hooker cleans up after me with a slotted spoon. Very relaxing!
Anyhoo...I feel for my brother rick. This whole mask thing has bothered you more than I realized. It has even caused a bit of a rick rift. You should try shitting someplace you normally wouldn’t and hiring a hooker to clean up after you. It might help you relax.
Just find a way to heal my friend. You, me, the vulture, and the shark will be back to gangbanging the whores in no time. ROAR!!!
Governor De Santis weighs in on this topic with this decision!
De Santis has already questioned the necessity of further mask requirements with the vaccine, so it is widely anticipated that he will extend Florida's mask mandate prohibition to schools for the next school year.
Now wonder De Santis is so popular in Florida. It is awesome to be a Floridian.
What does it change? Not much.
You are right that his orders and even the new law do not extend to business mask mandates, but it does cover vaccine passports. Effective July 1, no business in Florida may require a vaccine passport or other evidence of vaccination as a condition of providing services.
De Santis has shown a cool head throughout this pandemic and becomes more popular in FL by the week, especially when we look at what NY, CA, WA and OR continue to do to their citizenry.
I won't even get into how cynically political the CDC has become under the current administration, but suffice it to say that if that single industry is held hostage for a while in order to keep all other commerce in Florida flowing smoothly, IMHO it is a small price to pay.
He is despised by the left almost as much as Trump - the left will try to do everything possible to derail his future election(s) including a ton of outside $$$ as well as all the left dirty tricks of using the media and social-media as political WMDs and the left will try as much as possible to destabilize the election-process (push for as much mail-ballots as possible; push for not having signature verification or ID requirement; etc) - I heard on the radio today that former governor Charly Christ
I'm vaccinated & I don't mind wearing a mask in most situations, indoors at stores and similar. But, I am glad the nonsense with wearing them to walk in the strip club is over & putting it on to walk to the bathroom in a restaurant was always of limited use.
Like everyone, I still wear a mask in a store or restaurant (until seated). I’m sick of it.