Reply to Why are Montgomery County residents so über covid conscious?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think it is about politics, but not directly. It's an extremely affluent, educated county and there is a lot of community-centric virtue signaling going on. There are so many high achieving rule followers in MoCo, people who were probably used to being "the best" at things, and now they'll be "the best" at not getting covid.

The funny thing to me is that a lot of it is anti-science, or, at least, science neutral. Wearing masks outdoors is widely viewed as theater. But that won't stop anxious MoCo Type A vigilant people from "doing everything they can to slow the curve/stop the spread/keep their families safe."

I live in another major (very blue) city that's more laid back in most respects from DC. It's definitely less covid-conscious than MoCo or most of the DC area, although the covid rates have never gotten particularly bad. People don't really mask outside, there are major festivals that people attend, no one is going to raise their eyebrows if you mention having eaten indoors at a restaurant, even with kids.

-- a progressive, liberal, Type A, scientifically-literate mom of 2 under 12 who rips her mask off as soon as my face hits the outdoor wind. [/quote]

I’m in MoCo, and will add that this is largely a thing in the more diverse parts of the county.  We live in Silver Spring and people walk around outside in masks all the time here.  When I take the kids to swim lessons in Rockville, masks are nowhere to be found on people strolling around.  So, it’s a very specific kind of virtue-signaling, IMO.  The most stringent mask wearers here are also the ones that were vehemently opposed to kids returning to school last year because “kids are resilient” and wanting schools to reopen was somehow racist.  Please, tell me how that’s gone for kids’ health.

I refuse to play along because of the science-neutral (at best) aspect.  I work at NIH, and I’m not participating in this charade.  The funny thing is that there are a ton of NIH and FDA folks in our neighborhood, and none of us mask outside—we’re often the outliers at the playground.  [/quote]

So the people you pass on the street in SS wearing masks...you know how they feel about schools opening, etc.?  Amazing.  I live in that general area.  In downtown SS I see a fair number of people of all ages, races and genders wearing masks outside walking around.  On the trails and in the neighborhoods around there not too many people are still wearing masks, but there still are some.  Again, the people wearing them do not fall into one category.  I have no idea why they are wearing their masks.  I know one woman who loves the protection against allergies.  Some people seem to be keeping them on because they are walking between businesses or headed to a bus stop.  Others I’m sure are just simply using them as more protection and I guess don’t mind the hassle.  I’m not saying they are right or justified, but I also know that other people wearing a mask doesn’t hurt me at all, so do what you want, I say.  In terms of virtue signaling, I don’t know...maybe some people have time to sit around and think about mask wearing in that context, but especially outside, I think that ship has sailed in terms of most people thinking mask wearing is the cool kid thing to do.  Besides, instead of labeling people who appear more cautious virtue signallers, we could just move on and assume instead they have their own good reasons that work for them.[/quote]

No one needs to justify it to you.  [/quote]

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