I am at my dads house - he does NOT believe in the Coronavirus.

[Texacon]

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213066888

alittlelark (17,307 posts)


I am at my dads house - he does NOT believe in the Coronavirus.

 
He is telling me that he is 81 and that he lived to be this old because He Knows what is dangerous. He believes the coronavirus is a small joke.


This is a man with 3 PhDs - he headed the Star Wars project at Sandia Labs. He seems to believe that MD's are not REAL Scientists.........


He just yelled at me telling me I was listening to conspiracy theories...


I am at a loss at want to flee to the backyard and cry.

He does NOT watch Faux News.

AlexSFCA (4,221 posts)

1. lots of people are like that

in fact 3 weeks ago I was just like that too. But things have developed rapidly. A month ago I was ridiculing my spouse for stocking on masks, sanitizers, etc. And I am the one who is more concerned now to a paranoid level.

alittlelark (17,307 posts)

2. I got him to turn on the TV to CNN

He is watching and laughing bout how these ppl are so uninformed. I am at a loss. (crying emoji)

renate (12,150 posts)

11. He sounds exceptionally intelligent

He’s probably used to genuinely knowing more than just about anyone else in the room. If he’s just looking at the math (comparing coronavirus incidence to the flu’s, and focusing on the way that most cases will be asymptomatic or mild), I can see why he’d think he knows more than the reporters on CNN. He may not know enough about epidemiology to recognize what he doesn’t know about it.

I’m sorry. It must be so frustrating to see this behavior in someone who really should know better. I think he’s right in thinking that meltdown panic isn’t merited, but concern and caution certainly are.

I guess you know more about epidemiology though, huh?  Y'all seem to be picking and choosing your scientists.  Sounds familiar but I can't put my finger on it ...

Hoyt (41,807 posts)

5. I am hopeful this will be another event that turns out not to be as bad as

many people think. But, for that to happen, we have to take precautionary steps and be ready for the worst case.

Point is, your dad has probably decided the odds are that he and the vast majority of people will survive. That seems true. Now, if he doesn’t give a damn about those who will suffer, that’s different. I don’t hear that.

CountAllVotes (17,842 posts)

6. My husband is 83

He does not seem very concerned at all.

He thinks he's seen it all in life.

Maybe he has.

However, I have not and do not pretend to.

I was there when AIDS appeared in San Francisco in 1979 and I sure remember the way that situation was handled!

Many died before anyone was able to discover what was going on.

It was too late ... 80% of the gay men in S.F. were seropositive by the time it gathered the attention and precautions that were necessary to contain it.

Hang-in there!!

Who was president then?  I don't seem to remember ...

renate (12,150 posts)

7. I read an article about coronavirus on Medscape this morning

There were a LOT of MDs in the comments saying it was all overblown. I was pretty shocked that things were being said, by highly educated people, that were like on any message board anywhere else. One accused another commenter of having Trump Derangement Syndrome (he was a plastic surgeon, so it’s not as though he’s an expert in respiratory or infectious disease).

It seems weird to have opinions about a factual event like a pandemic, but here we are.

alittlelark (17,307 posts)

15. I think they 'say' things to make themselves feel safe...........

If they keep repeating it it must be true

Strelnikov_ (7,163 posts)

23. Are you sure they are MD's


Because if true, more than disturbing.

Yea, it's not Capt. Trips, but anyone in the med profession, with one look at the %critical cases, should understand the possibility of overwhelming the medical system in this country.

renate (12,150 posts)

39. Good point, but I'm almost entirely sure

Medscape has articles that are available to the lay public through Google searches, and then there are articles that you can only access if you have an account. The registration process is a bit time-consuming as I recall, or at least it was several years ago, but I don’t think they ask for your license number or anything like that, so yeah, it’s possible to claim to be an MD without being one. But you could also be any kind of health professional, so there’s no particular reason to claim to be an MD when you could be an NP or RN or.... Most articles are 100% dry and medical and aren’t politically sensitive, so people wouldn’t register just to cause trouble.

So I’m pretty sure these were MDs, but not positive

So here y'all are, completely losing your minds over this 'pandemic', which is not really a pandemic at this point.  Medical professionals are all trying to tell you this is being overplayed by the media, but because you want/need to score political points to win the election in November, you're more than happy to play along.

Baitball Blogger (33,948 posts)

8. A few days ago I got text blocked by one of my children.

I had only sent her two updates on the coronavirus. Just two. Her parting words, "It's just a virus."

So, yes, we need help out here to get everyone to understand how important this is.

Second anecdote: I'm going to a memorial service for a family member of a close friend. I was concerned about the mother, who is a centenarian, and asked if we should pare down the hugs and kisses in order to protect her from exposure. My friend said that her mother would want the hugs and kisses, but would let me know if something changes.

I don't feel right about this. It will be a big service.

Hortensis (36,746 posts)

44. Well, he's right in this in that for most it'll just be a cold.

Even if he is more susceptible, he's not completely divorced from reality if behind this "don't believe" thing he's actually taking a big view and declining to be afraid for himself and the very elderly risk group he falls in.

Reminds me of a woman who refused to leave the mobile home she'd retired to in Florida when Hurricane Irma was bearing down. Apparently she's at the stage where her big fear is of having to go to a nursing home. Like you, her daughters, one of them a friend of our daughter, got to be terrified for her. Probably that time again for them too.

Alittlelark, maybe take a cue from your dad if you can and stay cool. He'll probably survive it if he gets it, and eventually there'll be a vaccine.

Interesting stuff.

KC

[zeitgeist]

CountAllVotes (17,842 posts)

6. My husband is 83

He does not seem very concerned at all.

He thinks he's seen it all in life.

Maybe he has.

However, I have not and do not pretend to.

I was there when AIDS appeared in San Francisco in 1979 and I sure remember the way that situation was handled!

Many died before anyone was able to discover what was going on.

It was too late ... 80% of the gay men in S.F. were seropositive by the time it gathered the attention and precautions that were necessary to contain it.

Hang-in there!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeNa69uyYW0

Ah yes, patient zero.   

[USA4ME]

Liberals want everyone to sit up and do exactly what scientists say regarding global warming, but when experts in the medical field point out the overreaction to coronavirus is causing unnecessary concern, they are to be disregarded. Their whole world view has to be placed next to their ideology to see if it fits, and if it doesn't, they always choose their ideology. And then they claim they choose truth over politics. Such liars these liberals are.

.

[SVPete]

Well, coronavirus and the disease Covid-19 are real enough, and I don't think alittlelark's father denies that (hey alittlelark, learn how to use apostrophes!). What he seems to be saying is that for the vast majority of people it's like the flu. That seems to be approximately correct. Like the flu, Covid-19 seems to be particularly dangerous for people in poor health (elderly people so far, but many homeless people have depressed immune systems, and cancer patients doing chemo or radiation do as well).

Judging from the father having the energy to be cranky - bless him! - he'll probably do well. Maybe his politics don't need panic, hysteria, and people dying.