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Let's make this discussion a bit more interesting, shall we?

I'm not worried because we have statutory health insurance.

Go!

NHL and XFL have just suspended their seasons, March Madness went from no fans to canceled, NYC has banned gatherings of 500 or more, including Broadway shows, and Disneyland/DCA will close after Monday for the rest of the month.

At this rate, I'll be very surprised if I'm working next week.

monty42 wrote:Let's make this discussion a bit more interesting, shall we? [...] Go!

I've written several snarky responses to this, over the past minutes. Then, I realized, I was being snarky because this situation genuinely affects me and my parents, and I am actually afraid for them, for real reasons.

Seeing even one attempt at this being made into another "lets stir things up" subject, seems to have made me angry. Because I'm only human. And because I am, genuinely, afraid -- among many other things, for the elderly people I work with and young kids I care about.

But I don't like being snarky. I didn't like seeing myself write,

Snarky Käpälä wrote:I guess indeed you might be safe because you don't have, close to the fray, a family which includes small kids and/or (grand)parents who are ailing. For that seeming lack of loved ones, I envy you; and for the ease with which you are able not to worry about your fellow people.

I guess that was the anger speaking. For a second, I even took offense at the OP seemingly just asking about US playgroups -- but it probably wasn't meant that way. I'm obviously just not myself, right now.

So, while I felt compelled (on the previous page) to being open about my situation and feelings -- and even somehow, between the lines, asking for support from some of my friends here? Stupid! -- now I don't feel comfortable in this topic any more.
This is why I have deleted both of those previous posts.

Feel free now, to ridicule other people's real feelings -- and their fear for their real family.

(OK. Still snarky -- but less so.)

I can at least give context for BCS initially asking about our playgroup- on the news over here there's been a lot of talk on how the nursing home in Kirkland, WA seemed to be the US epicenter, and we only live a few miles from there.

SudenKapala wrote:

monty42 wrote:Let's make this discussion a bit more interesting, shall we? [...] Go!

I've written several snarky responses to this, over the past minutes. Then, I realized, I was being snarky because this situation genuinely affects me and my parents, and I am actually afraid for them, for real reasons.

Seeing even one attempt at this being made into another "lets stir things up" subject, seems to have made me angry. Because I'm only human. And because I am, genuinely, afraid -- among many other things, for the elderly people I work with and young kids I care about.

But I don't like being snarky. I didn't like seeing myself write,

Snarky Käpälä wrote:I guess indeed you might be safe because you don't have, close to the fray, a family which includes small kids and/or (grand)parents who are ailing. For that seeming lack of loved ones, I envy you; and for the ease with which you are able not to worry about your fellow people.

I guess that was the anger speaking. For a second, I even took offense at the OP seemingly just asking about US playgroups -- but it probably wasn't meant that way. I'm obviously just not myself, right now.

So, while I felt compelled (on the previous page) to being open about my situation and feelings -- and even somehow, between the lines, asking for support from some of my friends here? Stupid! -- now I don't feel comfortable in this topic any more.
This is why I have deleted both of those previous posts.

Feel free now, to ridicule other people's real feelings -- and their fear for their real family.

(OK. Still snarky -- but less so.)

You seem to presume a lot of things about me. That's ok. I get why you're angry but please understand that not everybody reacts to these things in the same way.

Let's see, if I can at least clear up some of the presumptions you made.
I've buried enough loved ones in my life to understand that we're all in this gig on borrowed time anyway. No matter how angry or worried you get about things that are out of your control won't change anything.
I know because for a long time I did the same thing. But it's an attitude I dropped eversince my mum died of cancer.
Nowadays in these situations I don't worry and I'm not getting angry. Instead my reaction usually is to make fun, ridicule and be sarcastic about things.
Now I'm not saying that that helps any more or less than getting upset or angry but it helps me getting over bad situations a lot quicker than I would, if I were to pull out my hair in anger.
I've accepted a long time ago that when our time is up, our time is up. No matter how much we worry about it.
That's why this bothers me a lot less than it does other people.

Anyway nothing of what I do affects you in any way. You are still allowed to worry and you are still allowed to express your feelings any way you see fit.

Acknowledged.

monty42 wrote:You are still allowed to worry and you are still allowed to express your feelings any way you see fit.

I'm grateful.

I did write a longer reply, but in it, I was being rather honest again (and that doesn't feel very comfortable right now); and I'm not sure you'd actually care about/for reading it. So I'll still think about what I'll do with that.

Edit:
I trust you meant "assumptions", not "presumptions". I can understand the former, and don't feel the latter is warranted.

A part of my draft boiled down to this: if you choose to live (safely?) "behind a jester's mask" of ridicule and sarcasm, then all that is left for people who want to have a meaningful conversation with you (or whose attempts at the same you choose to participate in) is to make regretful but necessary assumptions about who you are and what you mean. Because there's nothing else tangible to go on, besides the cynicism.

If these assumptions bother you (as they bother me having to make them), you could choose to either "take off the mask" more often (as you did here; and I've seen you do it before -- it suits you IMO); or be more sparse with which conversations you choose to participate in "while masked".

Marquetry wrote:I can at least give context for BCS initially asking about our playgroup- on the news over here there's been a lot of talk on how the nursing home in Kirkland, WA seemed to be the US epicenter, and we only live a few miles from there.

I have to feel sorry for the individual(s) who may be feeling guilt now over accidentally introducing this bug to the nursing home.

Speaking of which, I heard someone yesterday pose an interesting sociological question: What does the world look like in 6 months if COVID-19 spreads to near 100% infection rate worldwide, and 15% of everyone older than 60 dies of it?

JeBuS wrote:Speaking of which, I heard someone yesterday pose an interesting sociological question: What does the world look like in 6 months if COVID-19 spreads to near 100% infection rate worldwide, and 15% of everyone older than 60 dies of it?

Short answer: slightly younger, on net.

JeBuS wrote:Speaking of which, I heard someone yesterday pose an interesting sociological question: What does the world look like in 6 months if COVID-19 spreads to near 100% infection rate worldwide, and 15% of everyone older than 60 dies of it?

a lot of demand and profit for pizza delievering services...

here in germany public personal transportantion starts to be cut..

Austria is shut down from Monday on...

Whats a "tractor beam award"? draging new people into the game?

JeBuS wrote:Speaking of which, I heard someone yesterday pose an interesting sociological question: What does the world look like in 6 months if COVID-19 spreads to near 100% infection rate worldwide, and 15% of everyone older than 60 dies of it?

It probably stops at 70% or so, upper bound. It doesn't have a high enough transmission rate to self-sustain once that many people have immunity.

Overall, 9% of the world is older than 65 (as of 2018), including about 16% in Europe and North America. Infect 70% of them and then 15% of infected and you end up with... (does math) 71 million dead worldwide, including 20 million in North America and Europe. Once you include other age groups, it would likely be the most fatal epidemic in terms of absolute numbers (cheating, I know) in world history.

That would be incredibly traumatic.

There would also be some economic benefits for the survivors, eventually, after the initial massive economic trauma, just as happened after the Black Death... but the loss would be so intense that I don't think anyone would want to think about that. Nobody would trade their parents for a few more years of the Social Security Trust Fund not running out.

EDIT: got my numbers slightly wrong the first time, corrected.

SudenKapala wrote:Acknowledged.

monty42 wrote:You are still allowed to worry and you are still allowed to express your feelings any way you see fit.

I'm grateful.

I did write a longer reply, but in it, I was being rather honest again (and that doesn't feel very comfortable right now); and I'm not sure you'd actually care about/for reading it. So I'll still think about what I'll do with that.

Edit:
I trust you meant "assumptions", not "presumptions". I can understand the former, and don't feel the latter is warranted.

A part of my draft boiled down to this: if you choose to live (safely?) "behind a jester's mask" of ridicule and sarcasm, then all that is left for people who want to have a meaningful conversation with you (or whose attempts at the same you choose to participate in) is to make regretful but necessary assumptions about who you are and what you mean. Because there's nothing else tangible to go on, besides the cynicism.

If these assumptions bother you (as they bother me having to make them), you could choose to either "take off the mask" more often (as you did here; and I've seen you do it before -- it suits you IMO); or be more sparse with which conversations you choose to participate in "while masked".

OR I could just proceed living my life as I see fit.

LuthySloan wrote:Whats a "tractor beam award"? draging new people into the game?

During Worlds 2010 after Biermeister a lot of players were really, really drunk. Me too, BUT I've managed to take all the important stuff with me all the others have forgotten to give them back the next day - so nothing was lost. And since then I have a Tractor Beam Award