PhineasC

If you haven't seem them in an urban environment, it can be hard to explain. They are not like bikers cruising on a country road. They are on dirt bikes and ATVs, no helmets, popping wheelies, swerving all over the road. Traffic has to come to a standstill while they pass. I have seen it so many times it doesn't fluster me at all. I am not trying to be a Karen over it; people in Baltimore do crazy stupid shit all day every day. This is one of their milder outlets, honestly. There is also a darker side behind it involving theft of bikes and ATVs and basically what amounts to a black market chop shop environment. It is what it is. Better than murdering each other, I think.

It's just another reason (among dozens of others) to avoid cities such as Baltimore.

Been doing it in Baltimore for years. They ride down Pratt Street in broad daylight in large groups. It's a symptom of the general decline in urban society and rise in lawlessness that has really accelerated over the last year, but has been going on for a while now. Keeping kids out of school for a year didn't help. These kids were not at home on Zoom... When you stop enforcing the law for "petty crime" this is what happens.

You won't need a fake one. Vaxx passports are clearly not happening here, thank goodness. Some semblance of freedom still exists in the USA. I'm sure up in Canada they are going to have biometric scanners at every doorway and roving "Public Health Enforcement Units" to check vaxx status. Gotta squash those 100 cases they have.

You gonna take your mask off or not, dude?

Oops, better stay masked up a little longer.

That's a good boy.

Are you going to take off your mask now?

It's become a virtue signaling lightning rod in both directions. A political football. Science and COVID concerns are a distant second to that stuff. I am just glad we can finally get back to personal choices.

Luckily, you can take your mask off now.

You gonna take your mask off or keep it on for a while longer in case of variants and possible long-term damage to your lungs from even mild COVID?

I don't think the overwhelming consensus was the indoor mask mandates would be lifted so soon, or without some kind of vax passport system being in place. This CDC announcement appears to have caught a lot of people by surprise, actually. Businesses are already reacting to the news. https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2021/05/13/disney-world-may-soon-lift-mask-mandate-and-theme-park-capacity-will-immediately-increase-ceo-says/?fbclid=IwAR3IhHzyoNfpRUlAovA8Ud2f4plWoHHcB2_IE7iKUdGD18HsG9V2Vyn5VVY&sh=719ce6da1844 I am truly sorry if you are sad the mandates aren't going longer. If it is any consolation, you are free to stay masked-up for as long as you'd like.

Light at the end of the tunnel moment for sure. Hope everyone feels confident to get back to the things they enjoy ASAP.

Just talked to two older vaxxed people in my family and they confirmed they will still wear masks “because of the variants.” They are really on edge right now. They believe masks really keep them safe.

Do you guys laminate your vaccine cards and carry them with you? Seems to be a big thing with the older folks in my family. They all carry the cards with them and have been worried about forgetting or losing it.

Indoor mask mandates?

That’s how it should be.

Dominoes falling now.

Duh, to make it seem like a "reasoned, science-based decision" she made all by herself and not just a jerk reaction to the CDC guidance, which itself was a jerk reaction... Government inertia...

More cautious than VT?

Maine was pretty restrictive indoors over the winter. At least the places I went. I assume they tightened that up when the "fall wave" hit and there was renewed panic.

I think a lot of states had these little battles as tinpot dictator governors suddenly wielded way more power than they ever had in the past. A lot of governors spent the last year stroking their egos and appearing on TV as much as possible to talk about themselves.

I used the word likely for a reason. Sure, it could be a cancer patient or someone immunocompromised. You rarely saw people wearing masks prior to 2020, so there must not have been many of those folks out and about with masks back then. But yeah, sure.

Dude, it's not happening. The owners of small shops and stores are going to be anti-restriction and anti-mask for the most part, because those things hurt business.

I think it will be safe to say anyone still wearing a mask after this is likely to be someone who already received the vaccine but is still cautious.