Here’s an image that, I think, best summarizes the current American spirit. It is from September 7, 2021 at 5 pm and was taken on the Jupiter campus of Florida Atlantic University. The apparently healthy and reasonably slender student is swaddled like a baby, wearing a hoodie for protection against becoming dangerously chilled in the 90-degree, 90-percent humidity weather. He’s roughly 75′ from any other human and wearing a mask to protect against becoming infected with SARS-CoV-2, a notorious killer of 82-year-olds. He’s using a piece of recreation gear (swing set) typically associated with 4-year-olds.
Anyone else have a better candidate single photo for summarizing the spirit of the typical American in 2020/2021?
Camera: iPhone 12 Pro Max on “telephoto” setting.
From 7:17 pm on the same day, Juno Beach Pier, someone who is seriously out of step with our times (though not out of step with the prevailing spirit among young people in Florida!):
No additional photos, but….this is consistent with what I see as well in my mid-Atlantic state. I regularly see kids waiting for the school bus alone, with a mask on – just nuts. I feel so bad for these kids, and how no one seems to want to discuss the impact of putting many of these kids in solitary confinement for over a year. I mean, they have now had a total of 4 suicides **in this academic year alone!** at WPI where my son goes to school. Just insane.
@Bruce: Don’t forget! NPR now wants the confinement and masking protocols to continue, but they’re urging the CDC to double down on the “Test to Stay” program, requiring all school children to be rapid-tested every single day (or at least several times weekly) in order to be eligible to remain in their prisons. They are very, very excited about this program. In MA it’s gotten off to a “rocky start” but that is only because MA is kind of the “icebreaker” ship in the convoy while Michelle Wilensky and the rest of the CDC finish honing the policy into a formal announcement, which will arrive hopefully in the next few weeks with the funding to support it and get that burden off the school nurses. Everybody is nodding in agreement that “Test to Stay” isn’t just a delicious turn of phrase, it’s also necessary to ensure the safety of every child.
As our President once famously whispered to his Boss during the announcement of another federal healthcare initiative: “This is a big f*****g deal.”
https://www.statnews.com/2021/10/28/as-test-to-stay-gears-up-nationwide-massachusetts-rocky-rollout-raises-questions/
Oops I got Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, MPH’s name wrong.
Alex, you continue to misspell the name of the de facto CDC Director, Randi Weingarten.
At least you got the initials right.
The other puppet is there to legitimize the operation.
Image #1 is woefully inadequate to summarize the American spirit. The kid on the swing, etc., is fine, but that whole playground faces a street. In my little town, the local school was required to fence in their entire play area similarly situated and place signs on the gates reminding people that entering the playground meant setting foot on school grounds, which means that everyone inside the fence must wear a mask. Also, there are apparently no antennas for surveillance, no police cars in the street, and nobody wearing a Moose hat. Finally, is that child a migrant who has requested asylum? How do you know?
There are no crash mats under the swing. Highly reckless!
That said, I wonder if some childlike activities stimulate thought and fitness. E.g., why don’t adults climb trees while it is socially acceptable to go to a climbing gym?
Swinging is fun for ages 2 to 92, masks not so much.
On another related playground topic, years ago I saw a TV show with some folks on a beach in FL with outdoor workout stations at the beach, it might have been Vero or Boynton but it was an Atlantic beach. Have you seen that at any the the FL beaches?
The added relative wind of swinging gets a sufficient amount of oxygen through the damp face diaper allowing the kid’s brain to work again. It starts with swinging alone and ends with the first thought in a long time.
“Look Ma! I caught a needlefish!”
so proud
spam filter fail?
“Duplicate comment detected; it looks as though you’ve already said that!”
Is the person in the second photo a woman with facial hair?
Just as with Isaac Newton, I have no trouble recognizing him as a man. (Also, perhaps the corona theater at the hairdressers got on his nerves. I don’t feel like going either.)