Coronavirus in Massachusetts (brick, home, employment)

[yesmaybe]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

The teacher’s unions are very powerful. When School Committee meetings are being done with Zoom, how so you expect the unions to react to that kind of hypocrisy?

Maybe the goal is to goad the teachers union to strike.

[yesmaybe]

https://www.berklee.edu/btb

Berklee says it's going remote only for the Fall. Yeah, that's not going to work. Maybe you can add them to the list of schools that are going to go under.

[NewfieMama]

Originally Posted by Bridge781

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wcv...state/33397187

Interesting--our superintendent (on Monday) thought that there might be recommendations by density--urban/suburban/rural. I figured it would be something different from what NH is doing, but maybe not!

Also not sure if you follow any teachers unions on Facebook, but it looks like Riley has terminated negotiations with the MTA. He's been emphasizing a return to in-person school this fall, so I think he's reached his breaking point with the union.

[redplum33]

Originally Posted by NewfieMama

redplum, you remind me of chicken little. The sky is perpetually falling.

And you remind me of someone who goes to a dozen or so different doctors until you get the opinion that you want - and then disregards all of the others.

[Bridge781]

I actually took my 4 yr old to a playground yesterday for the first time since all this happened. So i basically hadn’t been on a playground since last fall I guess. There were two other mothers there with kids and the moms had on masks so wore one too. A dad came in and out on a mask. I was a bit on edge. Out of nowhere an older woman probably in her 60s started walking towards me from the parking lot. I was inside the gated park area. She says, can you do me a favor. I was like ok thinking she would ask me for directions or a had a question about the area. She hands me a bottle of Gatorade and says can you open this for me? I have a sprained wrist and I can’t open it. My 4 yr old was right there next to me. I felt like I was on the show, what would you do. I actually felt irritated. I was like ummmmm are you healthy? She made a face and was like oh yeah I’m healthy. She was kind of demanding about it to be honest handing the bottle over and waiting there for me to open it. I ended up opening the damn bottle. I just couldn’t believe that with all the talk of distancing and worried about spreading this that she would as a stranger to open something for her. I have spent years taking the train to work and never have been asked something like that even with no corona around. My 4 yr old goes why couldn’t she open that as the lady was walking away. She turned around and goes I have a boo boo. I told my DH about it later and he goes great she probably has corona and is purposely trying to spread it to people. You shouldn’t have opened it.

[BostonMike7]

Originally Posted by NewfieMama

Also not sure if you follow any teachers unions on Facebook, but it looks like Riley has terminated negotiations with the MTA. He's been emphasizing a return to in-person school this fall, so I think he's reached his breaking point with the union.

I've eavesdropped on one union meeting to hear some of the grievances the union higher ups were pushing. There seems to be a number of things left up in the air that the union reps want to see answered prior to the beginning of the school year. I didn't necessarily get the idea that they wanted a strike, or to push for full remote, but there were a lot of technical "what-ifs" that were left hanging. Things like what happens if a teachers spouse tests positive for Covid. Is the teacher required to stay home? Do they get paid for that?

One big question I overheard was regarding substitute teachers. A good number are older, semi-retired teachers. They may choose to no longer substitute given the risks. What happens if teachers are required to stay home for various reasons and there is a dire shortage of qualified subs?

I know the MTA is trying to get some measures approved, such as an EH&S assessment of all school buildings, and the full reopening of school buildings tied to specific benchmarks. Where the budget for this is coming from? Who knows

[NewfieMama]

Originally Posted by redplum33

And you remind me of someone who goes to a dozen or so different doctors until you get the opinion that you want - and then disregards all of the others.

Please show me the data that supports that this virus will spread "like crazy" if schools open in MA. I have ONLY seen data that supports the opposite. That is not me picking and choosing, that is me rationally using science and data.

[Bridge781]

Originally Posted by NewfieMama

Please show me the data that supports that this virus will spread "like crazy" if schools open in MA. I have ONLY seen data that supports the opposite. That is not me picking and choosing, that is me rationally using science and data.

Agree. There are schools that didn’t close in Europe and the numbers didn’t spread like crazy.

[id77]

Originally Posted by Bridge781

I actually took my 4 yr old to a playground yesterday for the first time since all this happened. So i basically hadn’t been on a playground since last fall I guess. There were two other mothers there with kids and the moms had on masks so wore one too. A dad came in and out on a mask. I was a bit on edge. Out of nowhere an older woman probably in her 60s started walking towards me from the parking lot. I was inside the gated park area. She says, can you do me a favor. I was like ok thinking she would ask me for directions or a had a question about the area. She hands me a bottle of Gatorade and says can you open this for me? I have a sprained wrist and I can’t open it. My 4 yr old was right there next to me. I felt like I was on the show, what would you do. I actually felt irritated. I was like ummmmm are you healthy? She made a face and was like oh yeah I’m healthy. She was kind of demanding about it to be honest handing the bottle over and waiting there for me to open it. I ended up opening the damn bottle. I just couldn’t believe that with all the talk of distancing and worried about spreading this that she would as a stranger to open something for her. I have spent years taking the train to work and never have been asked something like that even with no corona around. My 4 yr old goes why couldn’t she open that as the lady was walking away. She turned around and goes I have a boo boo. I told my DH about it later and he goes great she probably has corona and is purposely trying to spread it to people. You shouldn’t have opened it.

That's quite a reaction.

We've been letting our kid play at the public parks in Boston since they reopened. Not anxious about it, but then again we're used to homeless people sleeping on the benches while the kids play or strangers sitting on our front steps and leaving their empty containers behind for us to clean up, so I'd be pretty ambivalent to an older lady (presumably wearing a mask) asking me to open a bottle for them.

We've taken reasonable precautions like masks and hand washing.

[bohemka]

It's not just quite a reaction, it's completely at odds with her hardline view that schools need to fully reopen. That's a month away, yet this is the first time Bridge has even gone to a playground since fall, and she was traumatized by it.

Bridge, I honestly have no idea what your position is on anything. You're all over the place and nothing adds up.