I flew to the US yesterday after three months in Japan and got my first glimpse of how Americans are behaving in the pandemic. So, a short thread on social distancing theater from someone with a mild case of public health culture shock:
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Seattle requires arriving international passengers to exit the secure area and get re-screened. They have also closed the little tram between two terminals, but not updated the signage. So I had to walk the length of the entire busy airport and back to get to my connection.
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Each individual business in the airport has dutifully painted its little social distancing footprints in front of it, for queueing, but no thought has been given for how to keep crowding down globally (or even laterally in the queue). Random construction makes the situation worsepic.twitter.com/vNtTqvOVro
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The masks are worn as a sort of magical talisman. A lot of people just hook them under their chin, or take them off to talk on the phone or inhale a burrito while walking along. Most parents don't mask their kids, who ideally should be sealed in a soundproof diving bell.pic.twitter.com/95XKZiVGKa
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(Incidentally I saw similar behavior in Japan, where a number of older men in particular would pull their masks down off their nose, for easier breathing)
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My next flight was from Seattle to Salt Lake City, another Delta hub. The airline has blocked out all middle seats and urges passengers to keep six feet apart while boarding and "deplaning", that magnificent travel verb. They make everyone wear masks and give you a travel wipe.pic.twitter.com/kTgnHW95rO
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Salt Lake airport is even more crowded and less mask compliant than Seattle. I didn't take any pictures because I wanted to get the hell out of there. People are clearly not as afraid of air travel as they were in March. Maybe they're right? Not a lot of airplane or TSA cases
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Salt Lake City has banned the usual corps of people greeting returning missionaries at baggage claim, so my hopes of seeing a "WELCOME HOME ELDER CEGŁOWSKI" banner were dashed again, a pain that does not diminish with repetition.pic.twitter.com/4aqhrkTCyO
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