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I'm on the front line (yes, a saying I'm sick of, as to me, it's just the job) and I'll say, for the most part, there are two things that shape one's opinion on if the country should open back up.
1. Are you still receiving your income
2. Are you bothered by limiting socialization
If you're still receiving your income and don't mind being a home body, you're okay with a very slow re-opening. Otherwise, you're ready to move towards a reasonable re-opening.
We're a different society than we were earlier this year. If you're concerned, then stay home, and limit your interactions.
Yes, sir, this is exactly right. Thanks for bringing up your experience and perspective.
I've been saying since the beginning: the main issue is not "open" or "closed" it's "can stay home" vs. "can't stay home" and "have income" vs. "need income".
The problem is that they are all interrelated. If you are a income+can-stay-home person, then you are going to affect the need-income folks, who don't really get the option to stay home, by not spending the money you normally spend at the places you normally go. Personally, I haven't gone out for coffee for 8 weeks; but I did drop $250 on a local shop that (very cannily) set up their online site for prepay options for beans, future drinks and auto-tipping of in-store employees.
I'm incredibly blessed I can do that, and that I think about doing that. But maybe I'm weird, right? Or maybe people are spending, but that money isn't going to the local need-income folks and is going into Bezos' pockets instead.
So, this is exactly why we NEED a public health strategy to get the money flowing LOCALLY again. To me, the proper role of government at this point would be to beef up already-existing public health safety guidelines for restaurants and then do REASONABLE enforcement.
For example, just like we see those signs about "cleanliness" at restaurants, I'd love to see standardized signage along these lines: "This establishment has adopted all the public health guidelines, including wearing of masks for all employees and customers, cleaning of surfaces and social distancing" and a grade or date of inspection.
To some degree, it would be theater, just like the cleanliness signs. Do those signs REALLY change our opinion of a place? Not really. But they provide a STANDARD by which we can judge FOR OURSELVES, with our own two eyes, whether we want to be there or not.
To me, all the other talk is waste of time or is political.
Everyone wants two things: safety and a return to SOME kind of normalcy.
Increased risk will be a part of the new calculation, no doubt. But the sooner we just speak about it plainly, the sooner we talk about the elevated risk as just another risk of modern, civil society (like driving, like riding a bike on public streets, like eating under-cooked meat and fish, etc.) and not like some boogeyman that nobody can do anything about, the sooner we get to the next phase.
Which, back on topic, needs to include professional sports, as soon as damn possible.