Masks on the street

Eighty percent of the American population thinks wearing masks in public places to protect yourself from infectious disease that's killing millions worldwide and has a greater death toll than World War I is a good idea.

You wouldn't now that by walking the major streets of any large city here that's not near New York City. Careless hordes of folks, unmasked talking laughing walk about, carefree as if a hidden enemy was not hiding just around the corner bidding its time ready to strike and kill. Shirtless and short-shorted heros run spraying the air with their nasal droplets and sweat, uncaring, uninterested in maintaining the recommended six feet.

You can try glowering at them -- it is a moral imperative that you do -- but it's unlikely that will change anything. They will talk loudly on their phones with their exposed mouths, as if daring you to call them out. And as I discovered the other day, despite the racial disparity in the infection rates and related deaths, the folks walking outside seem to be detached from the reality on ground -- carelessness and fearlessness towards a deadly disease seems to be a uniquely American quality regardless of a person's race or creed.

All of that sucks, sucks sucks.

The good news is, reality is better. Much much better. The folks you see outside on the street are the one percent of the one percent, people who already don't care. The ones that are taking this seriously are not out and about in a potentially crowded place they're safely in the confines of their homes as they have been recommended to. The selection bias is really making it loo worse: the entire sample space is already completely tilted by folks who feel safe to go out, and the ones that are seen not wearing masks are not a random sample. You cannot see folks who are safe in their houses.

It's not as bad as it looks like, but one can always hope for better.