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Something we need to stop doing: questioning people’s intelligence when they engage in activity that we consider high-risk for COVID.
Doctors are saying it doesn’t work, it only makes people more defensive.
Doctors are saying it doesn’t work, it only makes people more defensive.
Instead, try saying to yourself, “Oh, they have a different risk assessment for this virus than me. They don’t see this activity as high-risk, and I do. Why is that?”
It’s probably not because they’re an idiot. Maybe they’re tired and just want a break from quarantining. Or are passionate about doing this activity (esp. if it’s a protest of some sort). Validate those feelings. Engage them with empathy. Don’t reduce them to “idiocy.”
Or maybe they’re simply evaluating the situation differently. For example, I have friends who truly haven’t left their homes since March. That seems like overkill to me, but it’s what makes them feel safe. Standards of safety can be different for all of us. That’s ok.
Instead of saying, “Oh, I wouldn’t do that, so you must be wrong/dumb/selfish,” ask: “Will you be masked? Will you be outdoors? Will you be socially distanced? If you go indoors, will it be for less than 15 minutes? Will you practice all these things in combination?”
Doing all of those things in combination will, according to doctors, make it immensely more likely you won’t catch COVID. But even doing just one of those things is helpful. Validate the person for what they are doing, and ask them why they won’t be doing the others.
(You can also ask if they’re planning to quarantine for 14 days before and after and/or get tested as other safety measures worth practicing in combination with the above list)
At this point in the pandemic, people aren’t catching or not catching COVID cuz they got lucky or unlucky. It’s cuz they followed or didn’t follow one or more of those medical guidelines above. That’s it. Luck has nothing to do with it. Neither does intelligence.
You can be the biggest idiot, and but if you follow those guidelines, you won’t get COVID. You can have the worst luck, but if you follow those guidelines, you won’t get COVID. You can be selfish, cruel & Republican, but if you follow those guidelines, you won’t get COVID. Period
