5.22.20: Memorial Day Weekend
Plus Cocktails & Contact Tracing
May 22, 2020.
Good Friday Morning. Today is my grandmother’s birthday. She’s a subscriber, so hopefully she sees this. Happy Birthday, Mam-Mam!
On a completely separate note, a couple of you have referred to Occam’s Razor in your comments over the last few days, and I just wanted to publicly commend you and thank you. I love it.
Finally, today marks the beginning of Memorial Day Weekend. As one of our anonymous users commented yesterday:
A bit disappointing that the only description of Memorial Day is 'summer' and 'barbecues.' Perhaps that is emblematic of much bigger problems in our country than whether or not the park where you would normally grill sausage and play bocce is closed this weekend.
Your point is well taken. Many of us lament cancelled beach days, cookouts and sales at mattress stores and car dealerships. We miss our families and our friends, and there are many whose lives and livelihoods are impacted by not having those gatherings and celebrations. We can’t ignore those pains and losses.
I met a veteran once who told me he didn’t like when people thanked him for his service on Memorial Day. “Today’s not about me,” he said, “it’s about my friends who didn’t come home.” Let’s not forget those pains and losses either.
I hope someday this little project is bigger and more impactful, and I hope we can reach more people and bring them into our country’s conversation. Democracy is better when more people show up. But even now, as early as we are, Tina is nothing if not a celebration of democracy: an exercise of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of (virtual) assembly and association.
However flawed and imperfect our country sometimes seems, however frustrated and tired we all sometimes feel, we should celebrate what we have, fight like hell for what we don’t and commit to do our part to make our Union a little more perfect.
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Results from May 21, 2020
Question 1: Have you ordered a cocktail to go from a local restaurant or bar?
Almost 30%. Another 40% that might try it. This is a big opportunity!
I love the to go cocktails. I Hope bars are allowed to keep that going once this whole mess is over.
Question 2: Would you opt into a contact tracing program like the one Apple and Google have recently announced?
Though most of you would be interested in opting into a program like this one, some of you are really against it.
In the answers that are multiple choice, there needs to be a more definitive yes and no answer available. As an example, question 2 my answer would not be so soft. It would be “hell no” I don’t think so is not a very definitive negative response to a question that I have a strong strong negative answer to and vice versa for strong affirmative response.
Others think the benefits outweigh the costs.
I am currently pregnant, and therefore immunocompromised, this has significantly affected my decision making during this crisis. I am less likely to volunteer myself for vaccine tests (I already have a young child and very soon I’ll have a newborn depending on me) and I’m more willing to participate in things like digital contact tracing if it means I can protect myself and my kids better.
But some of you just want more information on how the whole thing is going to work because you see it as part of a larger issue around data privacy.
There needs to be a clarification on the "tracing" question. As long as the data collected is only being used for this purpose, I am all for it. However, there have been too many times when I have been out at a bar and then the next day Facebook "suggests" me to befriend someone who was also at that bar that night or that I have seen there before multiple times. While I appreciate Facebook doing the "investigating" (read: creeping) for me on who that person is, I find it to be a bit concerning. I feel like there is a lot of things your phone is/can do without your knowledge and most of the time it is "harmless" but when the targeted advertisements when you mention a word or the suggested friends come into play, I feel like they are not only helping people stay connect and shop, but almost driving people towards a certain outcome/situation. That may seem a bit "Big Brother/Truman Show" of them, but I usually give it the benefit of the doubt for trying to "help" me rather than "control my life". Maybe they could just be a bit more subtle about it...
Or you just don’t trust Apple and Google.
The tracking plan from Apple and Google is nothing more than more data they can mine for their own benefit. Could it benefit the populace? Perhaps but it’s just one more step closer to Big Brother...Every major decision involves compromise, and I don’t trust their promises of anonymity (Which would imply no real compromise) Here we’d be asked to compromise more of our privacy/freedom for the perception of increased safety. Why not just wear an armband if you’ve been exposed? (Im sure someone thinks that’s a good idea too) Where does it end? I choose freedom and risk over a pre-“1984“ any day.
If you’re interested, here's a brief overview of the contact tracing plan from Google and Apple.
Question 3: Do you place blame on any elected officials, at either the federal, state or local levels, for not imposing social distancing measures sooner?
Most of you place blame on elected officials for not responding sooner.
Check out the ProPublica piece on NY's response to the pandemic compared to CA's. It paints a picture of Cuomo failing to act and refusing to make difficult decisions as early as they were likely needed. Very different from the fawning portrait the media has painted. Then again, when you have Donald Trump as your foil, it's hard not to look like a hero simply by doing your job.
I believe this is the article to which the above anonymous user is referring.
Some others see the issue not in the social distancing mandates but in the dissemination of reliable information.
I don’t blame the government for imposing social distancing sooner. That’s just how our government works, but I do blame them for not disseminating information more clearly and efficiently so individuals could’ve made better decisions earlier.
As far as blaming anyone, I think both the left and the right get the blame for blatant gaslighting.
Question 4: At what level of government do you place that additional blame?
This is just folks who said they *do* place blame on elected officials for not acting sooner.
If we had shut down a week earlier then we would’ve had a host of other problems come up. Restrictions on travel from China started in Jan and EU on Mar 11. We had few cases even then.
So I got a reply back yesterday for an email I sent about helping local music venues from Martha Blackburn. Whole 1st paragraph was how China 1st announced the disease on Jan 11th and Trump made it a national emergency March 15. That's 2 whole months it was downplayed and no prep was done (and we knew of it earlier). That cost lives pretending it wasn't a problem and not making sure we were ready just in case.
For the blame question, I think the federal government missed a major opportunity to take things seriously early on. I distinctly remember that it was not really until we had a day that as many Americans died as did on 9/11 that Trump dramatically changed his tone. I believe it was a Thursday. It was at least one week late (re: Columbia study). I think the Pareto Principle is at play here such that 20% of the physical distancing/hygiene/mask plan implemented early could've saved 80% of the subsequent work we are doing to contain the situation.
Question 5: Have your MDW plans been impacted by the coronavirus outbreak?
COVID did impact my typical MDW plans, but friends have found some really fun socially distant hangouts to do :)
I have to ask… What is it like to have friends? Do you have inside jokes and stuff?
I said the outbreak has not really impacted my plans because I’m lucky enough to be at a family beach house, where I usually spend the holiday. However, not with the family who would usually be here. Another reminder of what a weird time it is.
But as the anonymous user above mentioned, let’s try to remember what this weekend represents. Be safe, everyone.
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