https://www.npr.org/2023/02/07...household-compromise

Personally, I think the woman asking for advice is downright cavalier.

However, the reality of one person taking a risk the other won't take can be a problem, e.g. two people live together, one wears masks, and the other won't wear them.

Interesting problem for the couple, and I definitely see both sides of the situation. I thought the things the epidemiologist said were spot on.

The husband's hunkering down strategy is an approach I totally understand, but I'm not sure the risk/reward profile in 2023 is like what we were facing in 2020. Sometimes we just get locked into an approach without reassessing our perspective when information changes.

I also totally understand the wife's position that the kids' emotional needs should be taken into consideration.

On a (sort of) related note that demonstrates the complexities...my friend's BIL was invited over for dinner by some neighbors while his wife was out of town helping a friend who had hip replacement surgery. After he was there for an hour, they mentioned that they have COVID. He was livid. He's in his 70s and diabetic, classic high risk person. All during the pandemic he's been refusing to see his family members who wouldn't mask when they came over. He left immediately.

Well, the worst happened...two days after the dinner he was down hard with chills and fever. His daughter went over to check on him last Sunday and ended up taking him to the hospital where he waited in the ER for nine hours and eventually got admitted for a racing heartbeat. In his case it was his heart, not his lungs, that was affected. Last I checked with my friend on Thursday, the BIL was still in the hospital because they can't get the heart to settle down.

Life is full of risks. We can only do so much to control them.

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After he was there for an hour, they mentioned that they have COVID.

OMG!!!!!! What is wrong with people???

I'm so sorry for your friend's BIL.

I wonder when we're going to start seeing lawsuits for this kind of thing....

I would want to sue them, in that situation.

"Oh, btw, we put poison in your drink."

quote:

OMG!!!!!! What is wrong with people???

This.

Some things you can apologize for. This is not forgivable. This is the kind of behavior that ruptures friendships forever.

An update on my friend's BIL....

His recovery from his bout with COVID is not going very well. He's on meds for his heart, has been referred to a cardiologist, and has the post-COVID brain fog.

The regimen for the new meds is complicated. His wife checked his pill box and saw that he had them totally wrong. She asked him about it and he said he knows his brain isn't working right and he couldn't figure out which pills to put in which compartments of his weekly pill organizer.

Meanwhile, the neighbors who gave him COVID are pleading "please don't be mad at us." So far, my friend's sister and the hubby are still mad at them....they're facing the prospect of long COVID and a complete change in how they were living their lives. They're not feeling especially forgiving right now. Can't say as I blame them one bit.

I'd sue, definitely. How irresponsible can you be?

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the neighbors who gave him COVID are pleading "please don't be mad at us."

Wow. What a complete lack of understanding, and self-awareness.

Please don't be mad at us?? Seriously??

If they have any plea it should be "please don't sue us for every last cent we have."

I'm reading this now and am totally shocked that anyone would go out and about knowing they had COVID.

Yes, they should consider legal action, for no other reason than to cover what may be significant medical bills.

"Don't be mad at us?" Grow up.

It's particularly incongruous given that they apparently thought they were providing a kindness by having him to dinner.

On the other hand, people putting their own desires above the health of others has a long history. Does anyone recall "Typhoid Mary" or frightening stories of people knowing they had HIV infections and still choosing to participate in unprotected sex?

Big Al