Then, from a distance, I heard the first loud indoor public talking in three months, as our American flight attendants walked the length of the empty terminal to get to our flight. I stress loud talking because there has been an emphasis on it in Japan's public health response.
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My overall impressions reinforce something I'd already come to believe (imagine that!) The various social distancing policies are well meant, but ultimately it all comes down to how people behave individually, and that will be driven by some mixture of anxiety and social norms.
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Clearly, people in a state like Utah are not too scared right now. The roads are full, the parking lots are full, and in public spaces like supermarkets and stores you can see a lot of people not wearing masks. Social distancing is limited to artificial situations like queueing.
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When the fear goes down, the behaviors (chinstrap mask wearing, keeping your distance front and back but not laterally) become ritualized. But at least people know the safety behaviors! Presumably if they grow more afraid again, they'll become stricter in compliance.
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To me the Delta safety wipe is emblematic of our pandemic response. We will make token gestures, but Americans have also noticed that they're fairly safe right now outside of a nursing home, slaughterhouse, or a few metro areas, and you can't make them un-notice this.pic.twitter.com/SVk3LMJ8xY
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This is why I've been so adamant about using data from our surveillance economy to see what people are actually doing. Too much analysis focuses on what policy went into effect on what date. I'm way more interested in the behavioral changes that only intrusive spying can capture.
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I'll leave on a happy note, though. Lots of the masks I saw people wearing were decorative, including a bunch of camo masks for the tough guys. I heard one man compliment a woman on her U of Michigan mask. Go Wolverines! This is a good sign the social norm is getting established
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If I could Japanify America a bit right now, I would ask for this: - Stop eating in public - Speak quietly if at all in public - Install more plastic screens at checkouts - Have little kids wear masks too - Keep the mayo off the sushi
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End of conversation
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The city banned it after a bunch of families gathered together in the airport parking lot in mid-March. The airport had already banned the gatherings indoors but when the Church called all the missionaries home, they still wanted the airport pick-up ritual.
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