I can not believe I still am talking about the importance of social distancing and wearing a face mask in public, even when outdoors. The President of the US, now 3 Republican Senators, his wife and many others have now all tested positive for Covid 19. This puts a major strain on the US government for many reasons, and one can only assume there will be more. I won’t go into how all of this makes me so angry, but I will say it appears to have been an outside event that started it all. Now, that has not been proven, but you can surmise from the timeline when it is most likely. So, what is the point I am making? Even if you are outside, if you are not wearing a mask and social distancing you may very likely catch Covid if someone present has it. I understand people want to go back to normal life, and the holidays are coming. But, while you do have the right to make yourself get sick, you don’t have the right to make others sick. Plus, many Americans do not have good insurance, or any insurance, nor can they afford to be out of work for 2 weeks or more, like these wealthy politicians. Of course I will pray that they all recover without complications, but I sure hope it opens their eyes to their own ignorant ways.
Halloween, my daughter wants to participate, and I would love for her to do so. I have Kidney Disease, and I have an elderly mother that I really have to be able to monitor as of late. This puts a lot of risk into this Halloween equation. The other day I finally took her to get her hair cut. She only likes this one hairdresser at this one salon. Needless to say I was very disturbed that there was no mask wearing, except for us, no disinfecting in between the customer before us and ourselves. She did put on hand sanitizer, and I had to sit through a conversation about how it is real but if it is your time its your time. Needless to say she lost my patronage that day. Now, my daughter wants to go to the Corn Maze. This particular Corn Maze is small and gets large numbers of participants each year. I told her I do not have an answer yet, but I need to find out if they are social distancing and requiring masks. My daughter will wear a mask regardless, and I may have to pick and choose friends she can go with, if I decide at all she can go. Then there is Trick or Treating. While she is a teenager and I really could care less about trick or treating, she enjoys it. I may be willing to take her to the county that is actually requiring face masks, but even their cases are on the rise. This applies to Fall Festivals and any other large gatherings.
Plus Governor Desantis has decided to move to phase 3 and not allow penalties for not wearing masks. There have already been images of crowded restaurants and bars with no social distancing or mask wearing. I understand he is in a tough spot due to the loss of income to the state, but think of the possibility of all the loss of life and people who will suffer with no health care and the financial burden to them. This is not an easy situation for anyone, but with over 14,000 people already dead in Florida, I think it is going to be a hot mess of a winter. I do not care to be one of the dead.
So, that brings me to self care. If you have a family then you know they may get mad at you for taking care of yourself. This can include refusing large family invites, making you feel guilty for refusing family invites, wearing a mask inside their home should you go to invite, requesting they respect your diet and food needs, no hugging, and other social distancing requests. All of these things are things we should be doing with Halloween fast approaching.
1- Wear a face mask everywhere, period.
2- Wash hands before eating, after eating, before and after smoking, each bathroom use, and if anyone does shake your hand. Carry hand sanitizer and use often.
3- If you are having company disinfect your house before they arrive and after they arrive, especially highly touched surfaces/
4- If you decide to host a gathering indoors, open the windows. If it is cold outside and windows can not be opened, then reconsider large indoor gathering.
5- Try to encourage no hugging, no handshaking, social distance as much as possible, even if doing outdoor trick or treating. Don’t be right on top of each other.
6- Walk from home to home, don’t ride in a car, or on a hayride. If in the car keep windows open.
7- Candy will have been touched by people handing it out. If you are handing it out consider wearing gloves. If you are the receiver do not pick through the candy until you have washed your hands, before touching and after touching. See #2
8- If there is a long line at a house, stand a part from others, be patient, and wait your turn. Don’t all crowd into a line just to get a piece of candy.
9- Experts are saying Halloween masks as part of a costume are not effective, so consider putting a facemask under the Halloween mask.
While I still have not made up my mind on any of these Halloween/Fall events, if it can be done safely I will certainly consider it. She may not like me for it, but it is for the safety of everyone, not just her pleasure. I must add here that it is unfair for people to not follow precautions so that others who have reasons to not want to get sick to not be able to participate. If everyone followed proper precautions then more could participate. It is discrimination to tell the elderly and those with pre existing conditions to just stay home forever while everyone else gets to enjoy activities.
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