blimix: Joe by a creek in the woods (Default)
[personal profile] blimix
My neighbors regularly drive drunk.

They know that if someone gets hurt, it probably won't be them. They find this reassuring.

If someone gets hurt, that person has about a 20%-50% chance (depending on the study) to become disabled (often including brain damage); and about a 1% of death. Though, becoming disabled causes people to die younger in this country: It is not a supportive or accommodating place. So the death toll is really much higher than you might think.

My neighbors figure it'll "probably be okay". Each individual time, they're right: It'll probably be okay. They don't worry about the consequences to themselves or others if it this is the time that it's not okay. Around here, there are no deterrents, legal or social. They engage in this behavior every weekend.

On average, it'll probably be years before they directly kill someone. Until then, they and their like-minded friends are leaving a trail of suffering and grievous disabilities in their wake. Of course, my neighbors are not the only ones doing this around here. Not by a long shot. Once you add it all up, this has become an extremely unsafe place to leave the house. By now, a lot of us know people who have been killed by them or by people like them.

I'm curious: What do you think of my neighbors? I'm not judging. I'm asking you to judge. In their shoes, would you do the same?

Take a moment to think about your answer.

...

I just noticed a typo above. Where I wrote, "drive drunk," I meant, "go maskless in public and at parties". My finger slipped. Let me fix that, so we can read it together correctly.

My neighbors regularly go maskless in public and at parties.

They know that if someone gets hurt, it probably won't be them. They find this reassuring.

If someone gets hurt, that person has about a 20%-50% chance (depending on the study) to become disabled (often including brain damage); and about a 1% of death. Though, becoming disabled causes people to die younger in this country: It is not a supportive or accommodating place. So the death toll is really much higher than you might think.

My neighbors figure it'll "probably be okay". Each individual time, they're right: It'll probably be okay. They don't worry about the consequences to themselves or others if it this is the time that it's not okay. Around here, there are no deterrents, legal or social. They engage in this behavior every weekend.

On average, it'll probably be years before they directly kill someone. Until then, they and their like-minded friends are leaving a trail of suffering and grievous disabilities in their wake. Of course, my neighbors are not the only ones doing this around here. Not by a long shot. Once you add it all up, this has become an extremely unsafe place to leave the house. By now, a lot of us know people who have been killed by them or by people like them.

I'm curious: What do you think of my neighbors? I'm not judging. I'm asking you to judge. In their shoes, would you do the same?

Take a moment to think about your answer.

(no subject)

Date: 2022-11-12 06:32 pm (UTC)
From: [personal profile] sleeperchance
I think your neighbors don't read siderea, don't know what it is they don't know, and are suffering from burnout.

I also think that given the relative attention demanded by people who declined vaccines for political vs. medical reasons, it's very easy for the abled vaxxed to only focus on the yahoos and decide they're unwilling to prolong their own suffering to protect people who've put themselves at risk for idealogical reasons.

Indefinitely continuing to protect the delicate health of unknown others at their own expense isn't something I expect of my neighbors.

I don't condone the behavior. But I understand it.
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