Anonymous wrote:This isn’t entirely a bad thing. I think it’s awesome that MoCo has such a high Vax rate and I still think masks make sense in some indoor settings.

This also isn’t about the politics or the government. It is one factor, but other than the things County Executive Elrich (who I generally like) is saying, but random people I see and people I know.

I still see a ton of people wearing masks outdoors, even alone. Im involved with some organizations that still aren’t comfortable having in-person meetings. Not because they think Zoom is just more convenient…. they have literally said they’re afraid because of Covid. I have friends who put masks on outdoors when there are, in their opinion, too many people around, who wear N95s to go over friends houses, and even people who won’t go to parties or moderately sized public events. The Thanksgiving parade is finally confirmed to happen, and they are requiring masks. A handful of other outdoor events were still canceled. People seem to be really fixated on breakthrough cases and variants.

These aren’t even older, high risk people. These are friends of mine in their 30s with no significant health issues and are fully vaccinated.

When I leave the area - elsewhere in the US or even locally, in PG or even DC - it is still not so extreme, especially with the Zooming and masking. What is it specifically about MoCo that makes so many people OBSESSED with continuing Covid restrictions?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

I’m OP and you sound exactly like me… the mask goes on at the storefront and goes off at the stoop.

What I meant by not about the politics is that I’m not asking about mask MANDATES or other regulations, or why public officials are calling for XYZ… more about why individual people are doing it this way, though yes a lot of it could be their politics (file this under the list of things two years ago I never would believe could be political litmus tests)

Anonymous wrote: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.

Anonymous wrote: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.