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Where-is-J t1_j0hpbvh wrote

I completely understand this. Got an upper respiratory virus few weeks ago, not Covid (tested negative multiple times), not RSV (due to lack of fever), but was awful as it turned into a bacterial infection requiring antibiotics. I’m up to date with all my Covid vaccinations and boosters alongside with my Flu shots and still wear my masks since I constantly see so many people on the trains, public spaces just coughing and sneezing openly without covering their mouths+noses. You would think everyone learned a thing or two after almost 3yrs of a global pandemic but it seems some just either forgot or just don’t care.

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soundadvices t1_j0i39rd wrote

I hope you're feeling better now.

I grew up in East Asia. Masking when feeling sick or in cramped spaces during flu season was an effective common courtesy. And we all lived in higher density than NYC. This whole ordeal helped me accept that America just has much lower standards of hygiene and health education.

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Where-is-J t1_j0i79ve wrote

Thanks, not 100% because these things linger for weeks but slowly getting there.

And yes, this is something I always appreciated when traveling to Asia/East Asia/Southeast Asia, the common courtesy of wearing a mask when sick or when it’s peak infection periods. Even working with those from Singapore, Thailand, S.Korea, Japan, etc in the office. They wore masks in the office when they have slight symptoms but not fully sick (that strange in-between period) so as not to affect others. I’ve always highly appreciated the gesture, so thoughtful!

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AceContinuum t1_j0j0b60 wrote

>I constantly see so many people on the trains, public spaces just coughing and sneezing openly without covering their mouths+noses. You would think everyone learned a thing or two after almost 3yrs of a global pandemic but it seems some just either forgot or just don’t care.

Yes, it's ridiculous and it frankly really pisses me off. If you're coughing your lungs out, you should not be on transit, and if you "have" to be on transit for whatever personal justification you've made, the least you could do is wear a fracking mask and, if not, at least cover your coughs and sneezes!

But instead, I see so many jerks just sneezing and coughing their lungs out into the open air on trains and buses. Including well-dressed white-collar professionals who could almost certainly WFH.

Even aside from these jerks, it's crazy (to me) how few people mask up on transit. I don't care whether you believe in COVID conspiracy theories - why would you want to breathe in someone else's cold, flu, RSV germs?? Like do people actually enjoy getting sick, or are people actually so ignorant that they don't realize breathing in someone else's cough droplets is going to infect them?

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AnacharsisIV t1_j0mxhcp wrote

Do you wanna pay my rent if I don't show up for work?

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myassholealt t1_j0nbs72 wrote

>f you "have" to be on transit for whatever personal justification you've made, the least you could do is wear a fracking mask and, if not, at least cover your coughs and sneezes!

Do you lose your job if you do any of these too?

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AnacharsisIV t1_j0nd5z4 wrote

I'm not on public transit because of a personal decision I made. I'm on oublic transit because of the cumulative decisions made by the people who created the American system of capitalism and wage slavery (in theory). Don't get mad at the pawns.

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myassholealt t1_j0ndfgo wrote

Once again, since you ignored it in the original OP comment and in my comment, do you lose your job if you wear a mask and/or cover your nose and mouth when you cough or sneeze when on the train?

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[deleted] t1_j0q5qws wrote

Did you miss the part about wearing a mask?

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ejpusa t1_j0jzrvx wrote

>why would you want to breathe in someone else's cold, flu, RSV germs

That's how you develop immunity to these diseases, especially in a very densely populated area. No exposure, no immunity. Or else cities, with millions of residents coughing, sneezing, packed in like sardines, in un/ventilated spaces are not for certain people. You are here, you take your chances. You will be 100% exposed to an Omicron variant, 100% as long as you reside in NYC. Just have to accept that and deal with it.

For everyone I know, Omicron, a light flu for 1-3 days if that. I have zero Covid worries. I'm not ready to live in a bubble. I'll take my chances. My immune system rocks. I'm in the middle of almost 8 million people, it is what it is.

China is going to crumble. What living in a bubble will do to your immune system.

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AceContinuum t1_j0k3g6j wrote

Humans do not develop lasting immunity to the viruses that cause the common cold, so, personally, I'd rather get the cold less frequently than more frequently.

But if you enjoy getting the cold as frequently as possible, by all means move closer to the next person you see sneezing and coughing their lungs out on the subway.

It is just totally weird to me that we now have folks arguing in favor of getting the cold. I remember it used to be no one was in favor of getting sick. Folks: you can believe whatever you want about COVID without coming out in favor of repeatedly catching the cold and the flu. You know better than that.

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accidentalchai t1_j0jne9s wrote

I'm Asian American and wore a mask in indoor spaces while traveling around Europe this Fall and also still sometimes in NY...unfortunately, I've gotten people being nasty to me as a result. Not sure if they are extra nasty because I'm Asian and wearing one but after awhile, it gets annoying and exhausting so I've actually stopped wearing one because I don't want to deal with the hostility.

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Where-is-J t1_j0rn6sb wrote

Please don’t let that stop you from wearing a mask. Better safe than sorry I always say. Unfortunately lack of information still runs rampant. Earlier this year, I had to school someone who was berating my friend to take off their mask since Covid infection rates were down. Shut them right up when she learned my friend is undergoing chemo and is wearing a mask to protect her weak immune system. It was pretty satisfying.

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Ok-Afternoon-5444 t1_j0l40pb wrote

I was in the grocery story last night and a woman was wearing a mask. She'd pull it down to wipe her nose with a tissue. Fine.

But then she started handling every. single. piece. of. fruit. They were all fine and buyable. It's like her illness mind controlled her to spread as much as possible.

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Misommar1246 t1_j0lqdvv wrote

Same as you - vaccinated, boosted, still masked and I caught some type of flu that knocked me out BAD for a week. I had forgotten how bad it feels to get sick as I haven’t come down with anything for 3 years now until this virus around Thanksgiving. Still didn’t catch covid though so there’s that. I think wearing a mask protects me but it would be much more effective if people who feel sick wore one too, because there’s a lot of maskless folks hacking and coughing their lungs out on the trains.

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Where-is-J t1_j0ro64z wrote

Completely agree. Never understood those who hack their lungs out or sneezing all over the place openly without at least covering their mouth and noses. ESPECIALLY after all that was learned from the pandemic. I mean, did these ppl forget all those scientific studies of how those droplets spread into the air and affect those nearby with vs without a mask? Did we not all watch the same videos and go through the same lessons?!? At the very least, use a tissue or cough/sneeze into something… anything other than open air that can affect others.

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[deleted] t1_j0q5ezy wrote

Did you get tested for the flu? I had my flu shot in early October then got sick the first weekend in November. Home tested for covid a couple times and got progressively worse (started as a dry cough) so went to the doctoe that Monday. Turned out to have the flu, strain A. It was pretty rough, sickest I've been in a while (worse for me than covid last winter).

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Where-is-J t1_j0rmhsk wrote

Sorry to hear that, hope you’re feeling better. Yeah, the doctors did test and it was negative, same as Strep test. Got my flu shot too couple weeks before I got sick. I got sick right before Thanksgiving and it was rough since the worst of it lasted 2.5wks overall. I normally don’t get sick often (every 2-3yrs or so) and when I do it’s not great but this one was a strange since it was an unusually long time as I typically bounce back 5-7 days after the initial set of symptoms.

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Lost_sidhe t1_j0il5n8 wrote

aah, that's your fallacy right there, "people" (as a collective) do not learn. A person can, but just look around for.. however long you've been alive... man, PEOPLE, don't learn.

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secretactorian t1_j0ia8k9 wrote

I don't think a viral infection can turn into a bacterial infection. It was likely bacterial to begin with.

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burnbabyburnburrrn t1_j0iciz2 wrote

That’s not true. Your immune system gets worn down, your sinuses and plugged and damp. It becomes a bacteria breeding ground.

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secretactorian t1_j0ih1cd wrote

Perhaps I misread, but I'm also encouraging using the right terminology. It's important, because otherwise people insist on antibiotics, they get over prescribed, and then resistance develops. I'm sure you already know this.

A viral infection can facilitate a secondary bacterial infection, and you can have concurrent infections. But saying a viral infection turned into a bacterial one can be problematic when we're trying to get the public to understand science and take care of themselves appropriately.

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