The futile mask debate

I have been hassled a few times over wearing a face mask. They came at me angrily over misunderstood and debunked ideas around harm from Co2. They question my intelligence and claim it's not going to protect me.

I try to clarify that I'm not advocating that anyone should be masked from the time they leave home until they return home. Wearing one for confined public spaces or anytime you are within 6 feet of other people not of your household is more than sufficient.

As for whether it helps I completely understand that unless you are using an N95 (and you probably shouldn't be) your mask is likely only helpful in preventing others from getting something you may be carrying unwittingly, it doesn't do a lot for personal protection.

It's about stopping you from spreading SARS-Covis-2 specifically. You can have it and not know and you don't have to be symptomatic to spread it. This virus is more contagious and more dangerous than other respiratory viruses and we haven't had time to develop sufficient vaccines or treatment. I wouldn't recommend masking for flu or other less hazardous yet similar threats.

People then question my education because I am not a doctor in an effort to discredit what I'm saying. No, I'm not a doctor or even a medical professional, but I did work for 4 years as a caregiver for someone with a terminal illness which included training in hygiene and preventing the spread of disease to the vulnerable. I have extensive training in cross-contamination and PPE. I have 8+ years of past restaurant management experience and have worked in a supervisory capacity in a manufacturing environment processing vegetables and meats for restaurant, deli, and grocery distribution. Much of my workday involved preventing the spread of disease and other contaminants. You don't have to be a doctor to receive education in a subject and your google search for results that confirm your bias is not the same as my training and work experience.

2Darin Byrd and Sherry Taylor

Your kids are not being taught New Math. It's called Common Core.

A portion (about two paragraphs) of this is taken from a Facebook status update I did today, but I thought it would be good material so I'm using it here as well.

Please stop circulating memes complaining about New Math. Unless your children  are in their mid fifties or early sixties they haven't been exposed to New Math in school. Kids in public school in much of the USA are being taught Common Core Math, not New Math which is actually quite old.

A lot of people are confusing Common Core Math with New Math. I see parents decrying New Math online when what they are actually talking about is Common Core. New Math was tried and failed in the 1960's. Anybody that attended school in the 1970's or later probably wasn't being subjected to New Math and our kids aren't being taught it now. You can't effect change in a program if you don't even know what it is called folks!

That said, Common Core Math is garbage and needs to be tossed. Most parents, even the ones that remember the needed math don't do well helping a child with Common Core, and it confuses the kids as well. Kids often get marked down even with the right answer because they didn't arrive at it using the obtuse methods being taught. Please do more than complain on Facebook about it! Read up a little on it, get your facts in order, and contact your teachers, principals, and school boards. Let them know how you feel and back your argument up with solid facts.

There are 42 states plus the District of Columbia using Common Core Math, The states of Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia, Alaska, Nebraska, Indiana, and South Carolina have the good sense not to adopt this ridiculous method of teaching.