Not understanding or refusing to acknowledge something is the very definition of obtuse.
May want to look it up.
Usually only the former not the latter, but as explained, everybody here fully understands your “warning” just fine. Not exactly a dumb crowd.
There’s no mathematical path in the US at this point that isn’t at least linear growth until vaccine (still unlikely and nearly impossible to distribute in any quantity for at least another year by simple logistics math for 230M-ish — thats leaving off 100M who simply won’t be interested in the slightest) or herd immunity.
It’s gonna just keep on rolling. Make your personal decisions about what you’re doing for you, at any time.
Forced lockdowns in the worst hit rat colonies won’t survive a second attempt. They already shot that wad. Doesn’t matter what you or I think about it, civil disobedience will kick in. Definitely won’t survive past the winter into spring.
Too much ineptitude on the rules and too many flip flops. And definitely not enough actual math or science being proffered. People simply won’t comply after all that, good or bad. Way too many with bigger problems now.
Just the way it goes.
Very few are actually obtuse. They’re just pretending to be to see a rise out of you or to get you to go away quicker.
The reality is, they’ve made it to the last stage of grief and made their decisions already. New significant data? Maybe some new decisions. Maybe not.
You complaining it might happen to you if they go about their lives? They definitely don’t care. Not because they’re heartless, they’re just playing the cards they were dealt.
That’s just the reality of it, my young friend. Complain all you like, they’re not interested.
They totally get it though. Not obtuse at all.
It’s nice that you don’t want to catch it, but still generally meaningless when it comes to the math of it. Sorry.
Our 80+ year old MIL isn’t complying with jack anymore. She’s not exactly going to blame herself if you catch a virus either. She just has weighed the options and decided for her. If someone else wants to hide from it, she’s fine with that. Many did through the multiple other diseases she’s seen. She also realizes what I said above is true.
She moved out of her ridiculously locked down senior living facility a few months ago. Guess what facility has out of control Covid in it now? And still hasn’t evacuated. The place she left.
Dumb. Really dumb. We have solid math on this.
It was always going to get in. All the residents knew that in April. Being locked in their rooms and delivered mass quantities of alcohol was never the correct solution. When she found out they were lying about having been in touch with local health authorities, that was her cue to move.
So... When you add up the percentage who don’t care if you get it, and the percentage with bigger life problems altogether, it’s a solid majority.
Maybe they’ll die, maybe they won’t. Maybe they’ll have lasting effects, maybe they won’t.
They get it. They aren’t obtuse.
They probably do ***act*** obtuse toward someone they know would freak about their honest opinion, though. If you’re exuding the freak out vibe, they smell that a mile away.
They’ve seen it, and watched it lead nowhere useful — lots more times than Covid. They’ve had enough of that for a lifetime.
No time or energy left to coddle anybody thru it anymore.
They figured out life ain’t fair about six dead friends of cancer ago. Your stair climbing buddy huffing and puffing is super tame, compared to where they’re at in life.
For others, as opposed to the MIL, they’ll be hiding for however long it takes. Probably years. My mom probably falls in that category. We’ll hear she died in that house, before she’ll have anybody over again. Her call.
We’re fine with both of their decisions. Doesn’t matter what we say anyway, powdered butt syndrome.
Good call on the use of the word though.
Miriam-Webster says the now very common use, meaning “difficult to comprehend”, probably came from misuse of the word instead of abstruse. Neat. It morphed.
I rarely hear anyone use that one properly and always hear it used in the new way.
(Well, I usually hear it used more in relation to angles and degrees than either other way... engineering lifestyle and friends and such.)
Anywhoo. Whole bunch of people who aren’t obtuse, they’re just going to act like they are when presented with your story of “I don’t want any part of that.”
Okay then, change your life so you don’t.
That’s what they’re really thinking.
Your buddy is now a member of the club.
People you yell at that he got sick and has issues from it, who probably act ... obtuse:
- Buddy from a hobby who lives just up the dirt road has been on 10L of O2 or more for a couple of years now. Best guess is he has some crazy thing like MS that makes his lung tissue and muscles not work right. They haven’t figured it out yet. He’s seen a pile of specialists. Another round starting at the University now. He took the family and did multiple states in an RV this summer — figured he may not be around next summer to do it with the kids. Couldn’t care less about Covid. Guess where his wife works? Covid ward. Not kidding. He made his peace with it a really long time ago.
- Good friend and co-worker got news his brain tumor is back. Another surgery and a couple of months of daily radiation. Looks like he’ll have to move himself, his SO, and his dog to another state for those two months. Friends may have figured out how to deal with his house and his cat. Have a gofundme for his expenses going if you feel like donating. Used to fly gliders. Got the same info I did from the medical pros. All the meds he’s on were a concern at first. Maybe high risk. Numbers didn’t hold up for that and even pushed us both into low risk for the wild reactions. We both aren’t going out of our way to catch the thing, but we both have medical and other stuff to do. If a Doc, especially a Mayo Doc says travel, we travel. Covid or no Covid. He was there last week.
- Another old friend got diagnosed with as rare a disorder as mine (maybe more) that attacks small tissue skeletal muscles. He won’t be alive for too many more years and won’t be able to move at the end. Heard about that one this morning. Karen went to grade school with the guy. I met him in high school and followed his photography career ever since. He won’t make it out of his 50s. Going to guess he’s not too concerned about Covid. He’s going to be human Jell-O in less than a decade.
- Best friend from high school has rheumatoid arthritis bad enough he’s seeing the infusion docs once a quarter. Lonely drugs. Great side effects. Covid is pretty much a novelty for him, other than it closing his line of work down, maybe permanently. Certainly for a very long time. Catching it isn’t his biggest concern by a long shot.
- Former CFI of mine still fighting that tumor in his neck that’s inoperable. Doubt he’s thinking too heavily about Covid.
- Too many women who’ve had breast cancer in Karen’s chorus to even count. Two who chose preemptive double mastectomies. Genetics. Yay. Cancer has killed two more of our friends this year than Covid, and accelerating. Three others diagnosed. Looks like we’ll start our 50s with a couple more funerals.
There’s just a whole lot of folks out there who will be out doing wherever they need to, or want to, and won’t be too interested in someone “warning” them they might catch Covid during Covid — or that illnesses cause other effects.
They’re already years ahead down that path. Accepted it a long time ago.
Those are just the medical examples in my life.
Anyway.... if ya really want to get out of that dangerous airplane biz, come on out for a visit. Can teach ya how to be as non-essential as me. Ha. Jr Sysadmin classes. Can even teach via video if you want. But a whiteboard is easier. Probably not quite as satisfying as Medevac but you won’t catch Covid. If you do it’ll be from Karen and we can give her crap for being essential. LOL.
Very few you meet are truly obtuse though. They’re just not bothering telling you the truth.
They already calculated their life problems and Covid isn’t even on their top-ten list. Wasn’t when it started and won’t ever be.
That it’s on your top-ten worry lost because a friend had side effects? They’re like, “Hell. Side effects were happening to my friends ten years ago. Way more than one, too. We’re waaay past that. Been to multiple funerals. You’re warning us about side effects from a virus? No offense, but that’s super cute, kid. We remember the first friend who got seriously ill, too. Ten years ago. She’s been dead for years.”
But that’s way too long and boring and anybody in freak out mode doesn’t want to hear it anyway. Make ya cranky. It once did us, too.
Far easier to play dumb and chuckle and ask the other oldsters privately, “Remember when we were all scared of X? He reminds me of us back then. Nice kid. Bummer about his buddy. How’s your brain tumor?” LOL.
