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When it comes to coronavirus, Jamaica Plain has some very angry people
By adamg on Wed, 07/15/2020 - 9:54am
The neighborhood already has the screamy man on a bicycle who hurls expletives at people wearing masks. Yesterday, a member of the Jamaica Plain Facebook group reports, a guy was walking up and down Centre Street trying to get stores to post signs (which he conveniently had with him) that maskless people are welcome there and that the stores realize they can't ask customers why they're not wearing masks because of "HIPPA" and the Fourth Amendment.
Where to begin?
First, it's HIPAA - Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act - which only relates to the privacy of medical information held by health-care providers. The Fourth Amendment just doesn't apply here. The law you want, Mr. Sign Poster, is the Americans with Disabilities Act, which, yes, bars stores from asking you the specifics of your medical condition. Only you'd still be wrong because the act includes a "direct threat" provision that lets stores ban people who might pose harm to workers or other customers, such as, oh, not wearing a mask during a pandemic.
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Comments
i hate people
I really do.
Every day I inch closer to giving up.
Because of people like this.
Please read the Governor's
Please read the Governor's order. The guy is confused about which law applies here, but so are you. It's right here on page 2 of the governor's order: "A person who declines to wear a mask or cloth face covering because of a medical condition shall not be required to produce documentation verifying the condition."
It's
It's a bit more than just this article, anon.
This is just number 10974390127490 in a series of these.
*punch*
They can't be asked doesn't mean they have to be let in
If they say they won't wear a mask due to a medical condition, they can't be asked what the condition is. That doesn't mean they have to be let into the store. They can be offered an alternative, such as curbside pick-up, telling the employee what they want and having it brought to them outside the door, etc.
Close, but no cigar
Although they do not have to produce documentation, they still don't get to enter a store with a "masks" required policy.
Although you cannot ask what the disability is, you can ask "Are you unable to wear a face covering because of a disability?" If they say yes, that doesn't mean you have to let them into the store, it merely means you have to provide a reasonable accommodation, such as having an employee collect the groceries while the customer stays outside.
Lay down..
Take a few of these and “tell me when it all began...” (turns meter on).
there's a subreddit for this
https://www.reddit.com/r/NoahGetTheBoat/
Meanwhile,
More than half of COVID-19 transmission is due to people with no symptoms
Don't be a selfish moron. Wear a goddamned mask.
Some people have mental health issues
And I think this extended lockdown or whatever we are calling it, is pushing them over the edge.
I have mental illness but I
I have mental illness but I do not roam HP yelling at people about all sorts of things,
As if "mental illness" is
As if "mental illness" is only found in one form and manifestation in every single person living with one.
Ok
I didn't say all people with mental illness do, I was giving an opinion on this person.
Sure, but
..."it's mental illness" when someone engages in harmful or potentially harmful behavior is a bullshit take, because most people with mental illness do not do this.
OK, If you say so
Your opinion is correct and mine is bullshit.
Got it.
Not quite
"Some people have mental health issues. And I think this extended lockdown or whatever we are calling it, is pushing them over the edge" is an opinion.
"Most people with mental illness do not engage in harmful or potentially harmful behavior" is a fact.
"Most people"
So my opinion could be correct?
Unless you interviewed the angry mask guy my opinion stands....why you feel the need to correct my opinion is a mystery to me.
Your exact words
Your statement, as written, is that you think that "this extended lockdown...is pushing [people with mental health issues] over the edge." In other words, those people who have mental health issues (which is "some people", not the entire population) are being "push[ed] over the edge". It's not "Some people with mental health issues are being pushed over the edge", although that may be what you meant.
Thanks for deconstructing my
Thanks for deconstructing my opinion.
I just thought I was saying this guy looks like he snapped, I'll be more careful in the future for the pedantic people ( I'm not saying ALL pedantic people)
There are thousand of
There are thousand of different types of mental illness and disorders. This guy's disorder makes him scream at people. Hang out at Park Street Station outside on a nice summer afternoon. You'll see what I'm talking about.
There are thousands of
There are thousands of different types of mental illness and disorders. This guy's disorder makes him scream at people. Hang out at Park Street Station outside on a nice summer afternoon. You'll see what I'm talking about.
I have no sympathy for the angry anti-mask guy!
The angry anti-mask guy has to understand that by not wearing a mask that covers both his mouth and nose, he's not only putting himself at risk for the Covid-19 virus, but other people as well. I'll also add that the Covid-19 virus is not just a bad case of the flu--it's different, much more deadly, and much more contagious than the regular seasonal flu(s) is/are.
Imho, the angry anti-mask guy does not deserve any sympathy or support for his nasty selfishness.
Masks
I was on Martha's Vineyard a couple weeks ago and it was striking to me how many people were not wearing masks and how it was divided by race. Almost all the white people were not masks and almost all the people of color were wearing masks.
My partner lives in Milton and it is the same thing there. I live in Mattapan almost everyone is wearing a mask. Does anyone know a resource for good signage that promotes the benefits of wearing a mask? (Not too passive aggressive, but clearly spell out how everyone benefits by wearing masks.) Adam, maybe you could post an article about this. I have seen some clever signage that helps educate people and make them think as opposed to seeing it as an infringement of their personal rights which it isn't. Keep up the good work Adam.
Not my experience
" Almost all the white people were not masks and almost all the people of color were wearing masks."
Not true here in Allston. I see every kind of person (race, age, etc.) about equally behaving themselves (mask, distancing, etc) vs. being a selfish asshole.
If I've noticed any disparity at all... it's that males and teenagers are somewhat more likely to behave selfishly than are females and adults. But that's about the only disparity I've seen.
Yes, Our Experience
In JP/Rox, the disparity was being noticed a month and a half ago. Mask wearing (not counting mask-under-chin) along the Corridor parks and nearby (mostly white folk) seems to be about 60%. Meanwhile, on the other side of Franklin Park along Blue Hill Ave. (almost entirely POC), it seems like around 95%.
Same goes in other areas. Uphams Corner = High compliance / Southie = Terrible. It's definitely more than a coincidence - or age - thing.
The state has some
I have seen a lot in towns around me, which get a big influx of tourists especially in summer. There's a state agency on the posters, and I think it's DPH, but not absolutely sure - I can check for you if you want. There are some printable fact sheets here, but I have seen others as well.
It’s could be argued
That sympathy is OOD. (Out of date)
In many ways, we have bigger problems then C-19.
People like this angry anti-mask guy, however,
while not in the majority, are the people who are putting other people, as well as themselves, at risk for the Covid-19 virus. Moreover, people like this angry anti-mask guy are not only everywhere, but they don't have to be in the majority to put other people's health and lives at risk during the Covid-19 virus pandemic.
Threatened with death
Being threatened with death due to a virus because some idiot is a snowflake about wearing a mask is not just "being cranky". The guy who pulled a gun on a covidiot mask resister was a lung cancer survivor.
imagine
imagine being this angry (and out of touch with reality) that you have to march around town to tell stores to allow maskless people.
The power of fox news/brietbart and how people wrap themselves in alternative reality's is mindboggling.
Right?
What the (expletive) is HIPPA? Is that the hippo version of Peppa Pig?
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996
... which imposes some rules on doctors, hospitals, etc. regarding patient privacy. It doesn't prevent any of us regular humans from asking someone whether they have a medical condition.
Just as Adam said
In the original post, up at the top of the page.
Ack
I read the original post but apparently I have the attention span of a goldfish.
I'm assuming...
Will was asking with sarcasm, as the article refers to the man's signs as citing "HIPPA", which is a largely used incorrect acronym, as it's actually "HIPAA" (hence the bolded "AA" written on the subsequent line of the article).
Damn, never knew I'd have to make so much effort to explain sarcasm.