Ask HN: Have you made any interesting observations due to recent events?
Something I noticed, more people are enjoying the outdoors in my neighborhood. The past 2 years, I take about an hour walk nearly everyday. I've gotten to recognize the "regulars" who jog, walk and fish in the neighborhood ponds. I rarely ever had to "make way" for people on the sidewalk in the past two years.
This past week, I don't want to say it's "packed". People are doing the whole social distancing thing. But families are out walking often. But there are multiple families in a field kicking or throwing a ball around, easily a dozen people fishing at any one time (use to only notice one person every few days) and a few dozen walkers/joggers.
I mean, that's at least one good thing that's come out of this craziness. Hopefully it'll last for a while.
Have you noticed anything interesting in people or your environment in general (positive or negative)?
17 comments
[ 0.18 ms ] story [ 57.9 ms ] threadI know the folks not cooperating with the rules and new systems in place get a lot of press but all in all I'm impressed by how generally cooperative people have been.
Thanks to the grounding of flights, this doesn't happen any more.
My 72 year old mother has noticed that her neighbours are starting to talk to her, people she's seen everyday for years but who have never engaged her are waving when she's out walking her dogs in the morning (while keeping her distance from others).
She's also had notes through the door from people letting her know that they can help if she needs errands ran or if she just wants someone to talk to. Amazing to hear.
While my faith in big media was already in the trash before covid19... at this point, if someone put forth that all news should be banned... yea sure. Obviously impractical and childish of a viewpoint. Maybe a limit to how big a news group can be? I don't know. I just know that the fear mongering practices of news sources has to come to an end fast and hard. Before, it was an eye-roll "whatever" response from me. Now, due to the covid19 reaction from the big news sources on both sides of their political leanings, I'm sick of their crap. None of them have done a good job of helping the general public and just want to focus on all the negative, spinning it to "See, the other political side made it worse!".
Maybe, at the end of the day, it has to be people who fight back. Kind of like how you have the political fact checks. What if there were organizations that did the same about the journalistic integrity of news agencies and calls them out on it? I just think the calling out portion needs to be hardcore and not pussyfoot around it. A lot of the political fact checking always seems so quiet finger waving. If a plumber screws up the install job of a home's system and floods out the house, there's no light finger waving. A politician making bad policy due to bad logic and a news agency scaring the shit out of the public is further widespread and can cause lots of indirect havoc. Makes me better appreciate the Yakuza idea of collecting fingers for mistakes. People don't fuck off as much after they lose a finger.
Outside of the peak season, it blows my mind that I can go to a place in nature here and be the only people there.
I often walk or jog around my suburb, and down through the walking track in the valley near my house, and ya lucky to even see another person outside.
Will be interesting to see how / if any of this changes in the coming weeks.
I’m not saying it’s true. But for me it underscores the idea that we need evidence based policy making now more than ever.
I notice them play up deaths of the young and ignoring the statistics to make sure everyone does their part.
amazing.
- Build hospitals in x Days by Army
- Identify key equipment in case of Bio tragedy and either stock them or have them produced locally by at least two different companies in different location but same country
- Supply chain impact
- Distribution of aid, either medical or even monetary. Even with all advanced tech we have, we still can't figure out how to get things from A to B, when B really needs it.
The above would not need only to be put on paper, but also tested, evaluated and continously reviewd.
I'm also very surprised that a lot of companies I deal with do not have a Business Continuity Process that would deal with the above. A lot of customers want their staff to work from home now but are struggling with the HOW. Should the users use their own devices (BYOD) and connect to the VPN? what's the impact on security?. Should the company provide laptops?, if yes how fast can we buy them, configure them and send them out.
There are some companies who were prepared, because they took this seriously, they tested this frequently and were expecting a similar event.
Pandemics haven't really been a real threat for people to take seriously, and for good reason. Society and infrastructure is unrecognizable since Spanish Flu. Laws and procedures... well, no one really has real experience for this kind of problem. It's just a back of the mind kind of what if. More spy-novel fantasy than potential reality.
I relate this to 9/11. It's a massive wake-up call and learning experience. If you're old enough to know of a pre-9/11 world, at least in America, it was totally different. I had to explain to my niece that before 9/11, no one thought twice of an unattended backpack. You leave your backpack somewhere for a few hours in a cafe, park or wherever, either it was stolen or it was still there. Post-9/11, bomb squad is called out to investigate. Hell, Crocodile Dundee 2, lighting dynamite to "fish" in the waters with NYC in the background. Then a NYD coasty rolling up on him having a laugh. Dude, you can't make that joke anymore! Straight up, it's not funny or practical. Dundee would have been lit up post 9/11.
I hope I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure, the world won't be the same after this. Maybe not as extreme as 9/11, but we will know of a pre-covid world and a post-covid world.