Went out for walk, quick stop at store, then ran into my neighbor

[captain queeg]

Store was fairly quiet. I’d forgotten to pick up salsa last time so got a big bottle of that. As I was leaving I talked to a little old lady who was appalled at the selfishness. Probably old enough to have been they some stuff and said there were 14 kids in her family so learned to share.

But as I was getting home I ran into a neighbor that I talk to when I see him outside. Probably about 70 but pretty spry. I know he hates Trump so I doubt he watches Fox. He went off on a tirade about everyone getting hysterical over “just the flu”. I didn’t spend much time trying to convince him otherwise, but then he said How many are we talking? 30? I said no if we don’t take action it’ll be millions. He didn’t like that and I could see it was time to leave. So it’s not just Trumphumpers, there are a lot of people who have that attitude that they know more than experts. So I think it’s going to be plenty bad.

[LizBeth]

1. Right. Yesterday my brother said, worse than a cold not as bad as the flu.

I didn't even bother to tell him death rate of flu .08% and this is sitting at about 3.4% give or take which site a person is reading. Italy up to 7.6$ and over 75 up to 15%.

[doc03]

15. Someone was telling me yesterday that the death rate for flu was 8% and

the Coronavirus was only 3.4%. He said he read it in the paper Sunday apparently he doesn't know the difference
of .08% and 8%. I tried telling him that I had read the Coronavirus was far worse from what I had been hearing. I saw he was
pissed because I disagreed with him and let it go now I can see how he misunderstood.

[LizBeth]

16. Maybe my brother missed the .0 part of the 8 too. Lol. Sad.

[doc03]

20. Yep .08 is 8% but .08% would be what 100 times less? Is that right?

[rickford66]

28. try this

8% = 8/100
.8% = 8/1000
.08% = 8/10000

[doc03]

32. As compared to

3.4%=340/10000

8 people out of 10000 die from the flu. 800 out of 1 million could die from the flu

340 people out of 10000 die from COVID-19 34000 out of 1 million could die from COVID-19

That is scary but most people especially people that watch Faux think it is the liberal media trying to hurt Trump.

[dewsgirl]

2. There certainly are, these people are in for a real shock.

Trump never in a million years would approve a stimulus package, unless this was a giant disaster in the making.
No way he would give us libs anything, unless he didn't have a choice.

[Siwsan]

3. Glad I read this post- It reminded me to add salsa to my shopping list!

Thanks!

[Coventina]

6. I had the same thought!

[Croney]

4. Today I talked to a relative in Central Florida,

and she's mad that her business is suffering because the country is hysterical over the flu. I didn't bother telling her how it is here in Mass. I felt like saying: Send not to know for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee.

[femmedem]

5. I know a couple of people over 70 who just aren't on the internet much.

One contractor I know--a smoker approximately seventy years old who still uses a flip phone--is very nervous about it, but didn't have hand soap for his crew and him who are all sharing one bathroom on site. Of course he should have had it all along, but he listened hard when I told him that the virus has a fatty membrane so handwashing with soap is critical.

(He has since shut down work on the site.)

He works long hours, was spending an hour and a half a day commuting, and just doesn't have time to keep up.

[Coventina]

7. Hey! I still use a flip phone!

[femmedem]

8. You're probably better off for it!

Because you probably aren't glued to it when you don't need it.

But the difference is, my contractor friend isn't on his computer, either.

[Coventina]

10. Haha! I regularly forget it, and let it die.

People can't text me.

I live in a different world, it seems sometimes.

But, I like it this way!

[rzemanfl]

26. Me too! But I am "spry" which was a product and the punch line of a very old joke. n/t

[Duppers]

29. A good portion of DUers are 70+

Including me. This poor man sounds over-worked with those long hrs. No time to stay informed but what about his wife?

When my hubby worked very long hrs, I kept him informed of the news.

[Caliman73]

9. I think it is all based in fear.

People down play situations because they are scared. They say things like, "overblown" because they want it to be overblown.

Our own success sometimes helps to feed the denial as well. If the professionals who are tying to contain the virus are successful, then that success feeds into the idea that "it was all overblown" when the reality is that we were able to contain the situation and limit the damage through major efforts.

No sane person wants this situation to play out to its worst conclusions. I am sure that there are people who do as a sort of a cleansing or an "I told you so". To me that is pretty sick and antisocial.

I want this to be contained and stopped, and for life to return to normal. I would also like for people to understand how fragile our health as a species is and how we need to be thinking more about sustainability and robust systems to deal with these occurrences which I think will be more common as the climate changes and if we degrade our environment.

[Bradshaw3]

17. Well said n/t

[robbob]

21. I have to confess to a certain schadenfreude in watching tRump

flail and fail to avoid responsibility for this mess. And a part of me realizes that the worse it gets the worse he looks. And that if quarantine and social isolation works and we somehow ride this out, the bloated orange monster will try to take all credit for his “perfect response”.

That being said, my better angels prevail and I really hope we get through this with a minimum loss of live and people can return to their jobs and lives without too much suffering. And I realize also that, no matter which way this pandemic goes, tRump is just going to lie about the history of his response, even in the face of audio and video evidence of his callous handling of the crisis, and his brain dead followers will just accept every twist and turn in the administration’s narrative and accept it as truth, even as it completely contradicts the “truth” as it was presented just days before.

“We are at war with Eastasia, we have always been at war with Eastasia.”

[Caliman73]

22. Completely understand.

It is a real ethical and moral struggle. I do not want people to get hurt and die. However, I do want to see Trump suffer tremendously for all the horrible things he has inflicted on this country. I want to see him humiliated to the extent that future generations of Trump's will have to change their name like they did when his grandfather fled Germany like a coward.

He is so predictable. We know exactly what he will try to do. My other gripe is that the media will simply follow him on this tirade of lies and will not hold him accountable for it. Just like today when he said that he knew it was a pandemic before the WHO called it a pandemic, when we know that he was calling it a hoax into late last week.

[VOX]

11. And in the meantime, those who deny the reality are possibly spreading the virus.

So, as always, it’s the dumbbell few who ruin things for the many.

[hunter]

12. Seventy years old may be the sweet spot in the age of unrealistic expectations.

My octogenarian parents had siblings and cousins who died of pathogens that would not have been fatal with the vaccines and antibiotics of 1950's medicine.

My dad and my wife's dad missed service in Korea by pure dumb luck, and they know it. My wife's dad was a Navy medic assigned to the Marines, and my dad was a nearsighted Radar O'Reilly medical clerk.

There was a time after the development of effective antibiotics and the polio vaccine, and before the AIDS epidemic, that people felt relatively safe.

Trump is one of those people. If he ever got a sexually transmitted disease or a low number in the draft lottery a doctor could fix it.

[bdamomma]

13. yes it

will get worse, it didn't have to be if they accepted test kits from the WHO and tested Americans instead of separating people and destroying our way of life.

This idiot boy needs his ass handed to him.

[Grammy23]

14. I've seen people do the same thing before a Hurricane.

A woman I worked with often would insist a hurricane was going to fizzle out or go somewhere else even as the hurricane center was honing their forecast to a specific region. Denial works briefly to help quell their fear so they hold fast to their fantasy that all the experts are wrong.

This pandemic is something new to most of us. I bet if you went out and interviewed folks randomly many could not give a basic definition of the word. tRump didn’t help matters by saying it was a “democrat hoax” a few weeks ago. And then there are some who believe the Chinese unleashed the virus as a way to bring tRump down. So there is a ton of misinformation floating around.

Every day things get more dire with this situation. More people test positive. More deaths are reported. Cities across the nation are shutting down. It gets harder and harder to hold on to an irrational idea that this is not real. So most will eventually come around to understand what is happening. Then the real fear will set in. I just hope our supply chain for food and supplies is working efficiently because the hoarding and over buying will start in overdrive at that point.

[Maeve]

18. Overheard some ladies talking and saying the virus was no worse than the flu

Since it had the same symptoms. I said "Yes, but it's more likely to go to pneumonia and faster, especially among older people"
That gave them pause, as they were both at least 60+.

[doc03]

19. I hate it when people use the word (spry) to describe someone my age

like we are supposed to be bent over and barely mobile at 71.

[rzemanfl]

27. I am in better shape now than I was when I retired at 63.

Thank you Silver Sneakers.

[doc03]

30. Since I retired 10 year ago at 61 I have lost 20 pounds, lift weights (more than some

people 50 years younger), do cardio and rode 1800 miles on my bicycle last year. I am in better shape than some people 20 years younger than me that makes me (spry) I guess.

[rzemanfl]

31. Every time I see that word I think of the Armour product and the

punch line of an ancient joke.

[uponit7771]

23. "Just the flu" was socialized for more than a month. My SIL thought something similar until we

... told her the flu has a vaccine and CV19 doesn't information wise so I was thrown but that's all that passed in SM etc for nearly a month

[DeminPennswoods]

24. People are hearing the dire predictions, then comparing that to what

they are observing in their own community. The most common refrain I hear from myself and others is that there's risk in life. Not even the seniors I talk to seem very worried.

[captain queeg]

25. I talked to a group exactly a week ago and they were all deniers to some extent

At least some of them were washing their hands. So many people look around at the present moment and don’t seem able to think it thru. Of course if their government is completely downplaying it doesn’t help. I’d bet by now at least a few of them are starting to open their eyes. Give it a couple more weeks. I don’t want to see people get sick or die or lose their jobs but that’s what it’s going to take to get some action. Beyond the orange puss pocket trying to raid the treasury; that’s all he talks about, all he’s concerned about.

[DeminPennswoods]

34. Not seeing any denial, just a more realistic assessment of

the risks in life. Not many heard it, but there was a remarkable statement yesterday by our state's secretary of health who said of our 100 or so cases, they are all from outside with little indication of community spread. Maybe Gov Wolf et al have gotten the state's response "just right". Maybe the virus is not quite as contagious as everyone thinks. My observation is akin to a yellow light on the highway. People are proceeding with caution, but to the extent they are able, are going about their normal life.

[sarcasmo]

33. It's gonna be bad, look at all the dolts crowding the Florida beaches.