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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First, the baseline I'm used to from Kyoto. Mask wearing is at maybe 80% outdoors, rising to 100% on transit. People don't eat in public and don't have audible conversations in public spaces (bus, grocery store, walking through train station). That last bit is just a social norm.
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The first leg of my trip was a bullet train ride from Kyoto to Haneda airport in Tokyo, transferring at a major hub called Shinagawa. The train was not very full, but otherwise this trip was unremarkable compared to pre-pandemic times. I would not have noticed anything different
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I got lost in Haneda because they have just renamed the terminals, part of an absolutely terribly timed expansion of international travel. So I wandered like a lonely spectre through most of what has become a ghost airport.pic.twitter.com/ThC2hhHEQh
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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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The flight to Seattle was as socially distant as you can get in an airplane. Maybe 50 passengers, separated by acres of empty seating. Whether to cut workload or minimize interaction, meal service was very bare bones for an international flight, which was great! I'll eat at home.pic.twitter.com/f9qqp6Rcc6
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Replying to @Pinboard
Thanks for the thread. My only question: was the coffee from Delta actually “great”?
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It was green tea! But to be fair, it was pretty great
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I asked the same!
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