Community Chat

[GrailSeeker]

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@I am still oxox wrote:

I have a friend like this she is a little older than I am, and seems to be totally ignorant of the situation or not gasping it, today she was going to trade her car in and to department. Does she not watch the news. 

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You know, some people really do not watch the news.

Four days ago, I called my younger brother (55) in Texas, and he didn't know a thing about anything.  I don't think a lot of the 20 and 30 somethings watch the news.  My former father-in-law, age 94(!) just had to keep his appointment today with whoever it is that does his hearing aides.

For those of us who watch the 24 hour news, we are inundated with information - but I really think the idea is to hopefully catch just once those who do not watch the news.  

[SFGIANTSGIRL]

People deal with things and stress in different ways.  Deflecting (liking mentioning vacation plans being cancelled) sometimes is a way to avoid thinking of the bigger issue.  I also know I dealt with things differently in my 20s vs 40s and 50s.  This doesn't make people bad or irresponsible maybe it is just their coping mechanism.

Deb

[GrailSeeker]

My daughter, the one who has been compulsively buying groceries for her husband and three small children, asked her best childhood friend if she was stocking up, last week.  This friend is 35, has a not yet two year old child, and is newly expecting.  My daughter got the reply, "You mean like your mom with Y2K?"

My daughter replied, "Well, if you were responsible for children, wouldn't you rather be safe than sorry?"  

About a week later, the girlfriend was stocking up, too.

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This same girlfriend's baby daddy's extended family had a trip planned to the Dominican Republic, this week.  So, GF asks them if they think this is a good idea, with everything going on.

They told her that baby daddy's ex had pulled some stuff on them, but this took the cake!  Basically laughed her off, and I was told that they did leave last Saturday.  

[Lindsays Grandma]

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@Laura14 wrote:

Keep in mind the old adage if I don't laugh about it, I'll cry.  Humor covers up a lot of tragedy.

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@Laura14 ..."If I don't laugh I'll cry."  I said that once when I posted funny sayings because that's how I feel most of the time.  My daughter, granddaughter and I live together and having to put up with my daughter is enough to make me cry, so those words fit me to a tee.

[pitdakota]

@Anonymous032819, remember social distancing.  Stay at least 6 feet away from your coworkers and then claim you are hard of hearing!     And keep on doing what you know to do. 

[stevieb]

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@SFGIANTSGIRL wrote:

People deal with things and stress in different ways.  Deflecting (liking mentioning vacation plans being cancelled) sometimes is a way to avoid thinking of the bigger issue.  I also know I dealt with things differently in my 20s vs 40s and 50s.  This doesn't make people bad or irresponsible maybe it is just their coping mechanism.

Deb

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@SFGIANTSGIRL  I think you make a very good point. People tend to deal with things the best way they know how. The way they appear to be coping might not be the way they're actually coping at all. Underneath the bravado, I suspect most people are taking things more seriously than it might appear. That said, clearly, not everyone is hanging on every word about this situation, as so many on these forums appear to be doing and their choice not to do so is also part of their coping strategy. People reach overload at different points.

[DearPrudence]

Copied from the NIH:

Abstract

To calculate the burden of 2009 pandemic influenza A (pH1N1) in the United States, we extrapolated from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Emerging Infections Program laboratory-confirmed hospitalizations across the entire United States, and then corrected for underreporting. From 12 April 2009 to 10 April 2010, we estimate that approximately 60.8 million cases (range: 43.3-89.3 million), 274,304 hospitalizations (195,086-402,719), and 12,469 deaths (8868-18,306) occurred in the United States due to pH1N1. Eighty-seven percent of deaths occurred in those under 65 years of age with children and working adults having risks of hospitalization and death 4 to 7 times and 8 to 12 times greater, respectively, than estimates of impact due to seasonal influenza covering the years 1976-2001.

I was around these boards in 2009 and I don't recall all the hype and hysteria like there is today, despite the situation then being far more dire. And the media certainly did not hit us over the head 24/7 with it.

Hmmmm, I wonder what has changed in this country since 2009? What could it be? Any guesses?

[speedy girl]

This is what is so scary about the whole thing, as they will be the ones spreading it all around. 

[SuhseK]

I am I the medical field, an RD. It's important to be well informed, responsible, and practice reasonable precautions.  

However, I am getting the feeling some people, are, allowing them selves, to become so freaked out with fear, as to be almost paralyzed.

Stress, is hard on our immune system's in the best of times. Right now, we need to do everything we can to support our immune system's.

Take care of yourselves, do what you feel is best in your situation, but, please do try your best to keep some perspective.

We are not talking about, the aids virus in the early days. This virus is not a death sentence. The vast majority, the overwhelming majority, of the people who do become infected, will recover.

If we can exercise reasonable caution, for ourselves and our families, but still try and keep our lives, as normal as we  can, I think it will work far better, than focusing on this virus 24/7. 

[JustJazzmom]

This reminds me of the old joke -- it's all fun and games until someone loses an eye!

Subsitute your life for an eye in this situation.

We are concerned and we are following what the medical professionals are telling us. Yes, its inconvenient that no restaurants are open for sit down service but its for our good to protect those who are immunocompromised, or with respiratory issues or cancer or elderly.

Yes, it is an inconvenience to disinfect things we took for granted touching a month ago like the touchscreens at a supermarket or a bank ATM. Now we have to wonder, did someone who was sick just use the touchscreen? They looked fine and weren't coughing or looked feverish but were they asymptomatic? This is why we need to distance ourselves from each other. We are generally social people and this goes against human nature.

We now have been forced to think of the other person and not just ourselves and how awful that this virus is preventing us from going out on a shopping spree or eating out on the weekend in a restaurant or going to the movies or a concert or even going on a vacation to a foreign city.

If there was testing available to see if we have antibodies against this disease, I would feel a lot better. It would mean some of us got it and it was mild. But its quite possible our mild symptoms might have spread to someone who might not develop mild symptoms.

We have to be vigilant and wash our hands more frequently now and hang out at home. I'm sure we will find things to do inside our homes. Things we have neglected or waited to do certain things for that 'someday'. Someday is here, make good use of the time.