Neighborhood protests

[Ready]

I went for a walk this morning to get some fresh air and exercise and found myself walking right into the middle of a protest. Police were there. People seemed to be intentionally standing right next to each other to make their point. It was difficult to get past them without getting closer than I would have preferred.

Is anyone else experiencing this in their neighborhood?

 

[RobbieB]

Not here, people are generally well behaved. the only ones together are families out for a walk. The grocery stores have now all installed plexiglas shields for the checkers. I see protests on TV but not in person.

 

[bloom2708]

Herd immunity is going to require 'thinning the herd'.

My work is wanting to get back on campus in May. No thanks.

 

[frayne]

I'm convinced that in general, people are stupid.

 

[MissMolly]

Nothing like that here, but we are in a semi-rural location, not in the middle of town so any kind of protests like that pictured would be kind of pointless. But, having said that, I haven't heard of anything going on in our town although they have been protesting down at the state capital.

 

[LOL!]

With 85% of the coronavirus deaths in the county near my neighborhood, no one is protesting, everyone is wearing masks, and people are even avoiding the grocery store that the dead people used to shop at.

But in another part of the county that is very rural where there were few confirmed coronavirus cases, there is an exponential growth of cases. So rural areas don't have any immunity as they will experience infections in ever greater numbers.

So I say let folks protest all they want. They can do the experiment and I will wait them out as we have enough food and sense to see what happens to others.

 

[W2R]

Not here, people are generally well behaved. the only ones together are families out for a walk. The grocery stores have now all installed plexiglas shields for the checkers. I see protests on TV but not in person.

+1

 

[audreyh1]

Herd immunity is going to require 'thinning the herd'.

My work is wanting to get back on campus in May. No thanks.

Yeah, sure looks like it. Especially here in the southeastern US!

 

[Ready]

I took another picture of people holding signs up so I could see what they said after I got home. Here is the text from four signs:

“All Businesses Are Essential...Get Back to Work!”

“Let Healthy Responsible Adults Work!”

“.25% Sick, 99.75% A OK”

“Government Using Fear To Enslave”

Our County has 3.1 million residents. We have 1691 confirmed cases, 33 deaths. So the numbers are very low here relative to the hot spots like Los Angeles. Of course they give no credit to the fact that these numbers are low because of the stay at home order. They apparently don’t see the cause and effect.

And of course, it’s the beach, and the last remaining beach open in Orange County. So if you are going to protest, you might as well do so at the beach.

Police were there but they were just watching. Even though the protesters were violating the “No Gathering” mandate they have been reluctant to do anything about it. It’s our second protest this week.

 

[doneat54]

It's not the virus. We have a pandemic of stupidity in this country.

 

[target2019]

It looks like the herd did not achieve critical mass with this protest.

I viewed other news items about protests in other California locations. One photo showed a larger crowd, with no distancing. At the front was a toddler in a stroller.

 

[Chuckanut]

Not here, people are generally well behaved. the only ones together are families out for a walk. The grocery stores have now all installed plexiglas shields for the checkers. I see protests on TV but not in person.

+1

I have noticed that if I am approaching somebody on the sidewalk, if I don't step aside to increase the distance between us the other person usually will.

Small groups of upset people don't necessarily represent the majority. I do notice that younger folks - teens, small children, some 20-somethings - don't move aside as often as we 35+ year folks do. But, only a desperate TV station on a very slow news day would bother to carry it.

WJRK NEWS Special Report!!! Three teenagers did not step aside to maintain social distancing when Mr. Chuckanut was on his daily walk. Mr. Chuckanut so far reports he is still well despite 46 minutes passing since this potentially deadly event! More at WJRK News at 6!

Or maybe I should see if I can tell my story of Sidewalk Terror to the ladies on The View. What would they pay me to be a guest?

 

[IBWino]

I'm convince that in general, people are stupid.

Or desperate. I think it's easier for people like those of us on this forum (retired, financially independent, etc.) to comply with social distancing than for those that live paycheck-to-paycheck and have to decide whether to pay for rent, healthcare, or groceries this month. I know that if I were in that position, I'd be wanting to take my chances and get back to work.

-Wino

 

[MRG]

Some peoples biggest contribution to society is serving as an example for others.

 

[savory]

The good news in our rural county is that so far it seems the discussions are with county officials so they can make proposals up the line. I was stunned by the our Sheriff's position which is quoted from the newspaper along with my comments:

"He told the commissioners Tuesday that citizens are responsible for making their own decisions based on advice and guidelines that are publicly available. Children are taught to look both ways before they cross the street, he said, but that’s not written in law."

If you think people didn't need direction/laws to display good judgement, we would NOT have laws for littering. Speed limits in school zones. Time limitations for setting off fireworks. Double parking. Pulling over for an ambulance.

But because kids look both ways, it is time to trust that people will take enough care not to pass a deadly virus. You really got to provide a better example than look both ways.

 

[Lewis Clark]

Herd immunity is going to require 'thinning the herd'.

I think of this as a form of natural selection.

 

[Dtail]

But I heard on TV, they are practicing social distancing.........

 

[NameRedacted]

I took another picture of people holding signs up so I could see what they said after I got home. Here is the text from four signs:

“All Businesses Are Essential...Get Back to Work!”

“Let Healthy Responsible Adults Work!”

“.25% Sick, 99.75% A OK”

“Government Using Fear To Enslave”

Our County has 3.1 million residents. We have 1691 confirmed cases, 33 deaths. So the numbers are very low here relative to the hot spots like Los Angeles. Of course they give no credit to the fact that these numbers are low because of the stay at home order. They apparently don’t see the cause and effect.

And of course, it’s the beach, and the last remaining beach open in Orange County. So if you are going to protest, you might as well do so at the beach.

Police were there but they were just watching. Even though the protesters were violating the “No Gathering” mandate they have been reluctant to do anything about it. It’s our second protest this week.

Yeah we don't want to risk the police getting sick for something so minor. Their job is difficult enough already.

 

[capjak]

Countries EASING Restrictions as of yesterday :
Spain, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Finland, Germany, Denmark, Czech Republic, Solvenia, Poland, China, India, New Zealand, Belgium, Iran,

And than there's Sweden:
The Swedish model of continuing life as normal despite coronavirus has led to it achieving “herd immunity” in parts of the country, with others to follow within weeks, said the country’s infectious diseases chief according to the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph on Saturday.

 

[Ready]

I have to admit, when I see these protesters the first thing I think about is how many of them were living beyond their means, spending every cent they make, buying their lattes at Starbucks, going out to the bars to drink with their buddies, eating in fancy restaurants, driving cars they can’t afford, all while ignoring the need to build up an emergency savings reserve.

And now after one month of lockdown they are crying about how they are broke and can’t pay their bills. And they want to expose all of us to unnecessary risk because they failed to do any planning.

 

[Walt34]

I haven't heard of any protests in WV. Then again, I haven't been "downtown" since about the middle of March or so.

 

[LOL!]

They are also being manipulated by forces that they don't see nor understand.

 

[pb4uski]

+1 They are broke, scared and willing to put health on the backburner to economics because they don't have an emergency fund or savings because they live above their means.

 

[audreyh1]

Countries EASING Restrictions as of yesterday :
Spain, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Finland, Germany, Denmark, Czech Republic, Solvenia, Poland, China, India, New Zealand, Belgium, Iran,

And than there's Sweden:
The Swedish model of continuing life as normal despite coronavirus has led to it achieving “herd immunity” in parts of the country, with others to follow within weeks, said the country’s infectious diseases chief according to the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph on Saturday.

How could Sweden have possibly achieved herd immunity in some areas already? They don’t seem to have enough cases yet.

 

[Beststash]

We had similar protests in Austin this last Saturday at the Capital. The event was promoted by Alex Jones Infowars (a local wacko conspiracy theory guy) and strangely was joined by gun rights activists - not sure of the connection or if there was one? Most did not wear face masks (Austin is under mandatory order) and definitely did not social distance.

I know we will be gradually opening up here in Texas and I can understand people wanting to get back to work. I'm thankful that being retired I don't have to take the risk. I wonder if your business opens back up and you feel going back would be dangerous could you still draw unemployment? Wonder how that would work?
I have a feeling this will be an issue for a long time. Without a vaccine or therapeutic treatment will it be inevitable that we all end up getting the virus?