And yet, on the eve of the Fair, I bought a ticket at Cub Foods. I bought another one back on Sunday. Why? Man, I don't know. I want to believe the science ... which says that if you're vaccinated (and I am), you're virtually immune from COVID-19, even its Delta variant, hospitalizing and/or killing you ... and which also says that Delta spreads very easily and efficiently ... and has sent people to the ICU and onto a ventilator ... most of which being the unvaccinated ... and which also says that the coronavirus has trouble spreading outdoors ... but easily spreads in crowds. So yeah, I don't know. This information is not mixed messaging; it's science.
Look, I don't want to be an anti-vaxxer and anti-masker, so any squawking coming from them should fall on deaf ears because those pricks never debate in bad faith. (People should vandalize the Republican booth at the Fair, too.) But there is a possibility, a slight possibility, that people are overreacting to the Fair's decision, which, to be fair (see what I did there?), may not be based on science so much as on logistics (namely that it's too hard to tell everybody coming onto the Fairgrounds to wear a mask). Upon this news that came down last week, many media outlets, 150 vendors and at least one band has decided not to appear at the Fair, although many vendors cite staffing shortages and lack of supplies as reasons they won't show up.
But how about me? I missed the Fair last year. I have grown to see the Fair as a pilgrimage -- maybe not Mecca, more like Graceland. Yet I don't want to get sick because some outstate dumbass still thinks the virus is a hoax.
But ... you know, I thought that once I got the vaccine I would not need to get tested for COVID-19. With the spread of the Delta variant and the unknown ability for it to infect the fully vaccinated, however, I decided I could not be free of it. My parents seem healthy, but if I still am able to spread it to them because I was in a situation where I somehow caught it, I would have to know if I get it. And yet I have largely gone back to my normal social routine -- exercising, going out to eat, having fun at stripper parties, etc. I got tested back on Saturday; it came back negative. And, yes, I am kind of committed since I bought two tickets.
Yes. I am going. I am going to try to be as careful as hell. I'll try -- try -- to wear a mask whenever I'm not eating or drinking, which is inimical to being at the Fair, I understand that. I probably won't go in any indoor spaces. I may not even use the restroom. And I won't stay long. Hopefully. I promise.
What I will do, however, is not go the first week. I'm not as worried about sudden cases of the 'Rona happening with people infected the first days of the Fair, although if Delta spreads as fast as I hear, I will hear about a sudden rise in cases in the state this time next week. I am more concerned about incidents between people over the use or non-use of masks. I'm really scared that, frankly, there are going to be arguments, if not fistfights, over someone using or not using a mask. If those things happen, they're going to happen through the weekend. If my fears are unfounded (and I hope they are), I think I can step onto the Fairgrounds its second week. If, however, the Fair is just riven with id-crazy Republican psychos who are making fun of anybody wearing a mask ... well, I guess I wasted $26.
Wish me luck.
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