DWT Reports: On The Road With Exile Johnny!

COVID-Ron with COVID-Don... and friends

On Wednesday, right-wing loon Brandon Straka, a Trump campaign operative well-known enough to have been invited to appear on Fox in the past, was kicked off an American Airlines flight bound for Dallas before he took off from New York's LaGuardia Airport. He refused to wear a mask, endangering the other passengers. CNN reported that "This is the first known incident of this type since the airlines announced plans to more strictly enforce mask wearing... When asked about masks, Straka said he is anti-mask for himself, but he sees it as a personal decision. Along with T-shirts and other items, Straka sells masks on his website. 

Of course, there's an alternative to flying when you want to go someplace like... Florida. I might add, though, that on Wednesday, Florida reported 2,610 new COVID-19 cases, Third only to California and Texas, which reported, respectively, 4,179 and 3,511 new cases. On Thursday, Florida reported 3,207 new cases and 4,001 cases per million people. Today, Florida reported another 3,822 cases-- a one day record for the state-- and their cases per million number is now 4,179. Certain Floridians are celebrating the state's reopening by throwing away their masks-- if they ever bothered to acquire them in the first place.

Headin' South. Call Them Irresponsible. It's Undeniably True.
-by Exile Johnny

It's one thing to hear how irresponsibly people are acting (and how fucking stupid they are), and another to see it close up...

My wife and I were scheduled for our annual drive down to our little town house in Florida, and stay there for a couple of weeks, or so, around Easter time. With Covid-19, travel restrictions, etc, obviously, that trip got cancelled. The cancellation of the the planned trip meant that there were a couple of loose ends down there that we would need to take care of on our property before the summer months, and hurricane season, so we knew a brief trip was going to have to be squeezed in, at some point. My wife had been nudging me to go for many weeks now, but I resisted, pointing out that I felt more confident being in New York where, even though I knew the virus was bad, I knew we were behaving properly, as opposed to a state where the Governor seemed to have no interest in imposing any safety restrictions, beyond keeping us dreaded New Yorkers from entering the state.

Well, even though we had heard infection rates were getting worse down south, we still needed to make the trip, and it didn't seem as if it's going to be getting any better, so we hit the open road late last week. The plan was for a whirlwind 6 day trip, a day and a half to drive down (need to take a couple of breaks at our advanced age), 2 + days in the state of Florida (need to give my vehicle a little break, as well), and then another day and ahalf to 2 to drive back.

The trip was an eye opening experience as to what a failure it's been to have such a lack of leadership and a lack of a unified response, to this crisis both on a national level and in many individual states. I'll try to give you a brief rundown, so you might get the gist:

The first stop was at a great sandwich shop we know in Baltimore. People lined up inside, and a few out. People keeping their distance, everyone wearing a mask, everything done right, and in a timely manner. Great start. But, as we went further south, the situation went further south. We only stopped in Virginia for gas, but could see people there were much less vigilant.

Then, on to the Carolina's. Oh boy! The Carolina's, with very rare exception, were as if no word of any pandemic, or infection, had ever reached them. You would have to work really hard to locate someone with a mask. Thursday evening, we stopped at a Cracker Barrel, not to eat, just for a bathroom break, as we figured it was a location whose corporate structure likely meant that it was at least clean, and followed some semblance of guidelines. No siree. Not a mask in the house. Not a customer. Not an employee. Plenty of people eating indoors in their dining room. Once again, it was as if nothing has transpired in recent months. As my wife came back to our car, she was laughed at in the parking lot for wearing a mask.

Next morning, the couple of brief gas/pit stops we made in Georgia were pretty similar. Then it was on to the Florida Border. Just a couple of miles across the state line on I-95, there was a checkpoint set up. Every car was stopped, and if you were cleared, they let you continue on the highway. If you were not, you had to proceed to the tented areas (set up in a weigh station). Having New York plates on our vehicle we were, of course, told to pull into said area. We were greeted by some very friendly workers from the state health department (And, yes, they were wearing masks). We were handed 2 sheets of paper. 1 was just a list of guidelines, basically saying that it is 'suggested' that you self quarantine for 14 days upon entering the state. The other was a form you had to sign, saying where you were going, reason for visit, how long you were staying, etc. As I mentioned, the ladies we dealt with were very nice, and very laid back, and pretty much made it clear that this was all just a bunch of B.S. that they were being forced to do by the governor. To be clear and open myself, though, I did share with them that it was my intent to only be in the state for a few days, and then get back on my merry way. They had given me the paper saying something about quarantining for 14 days. We were not required to stay 14 days, were we? I was told in pretty uncertain terms, that this encounter, where they gave me 2 pieces of paper, would be the last I would hear of anything about the matter. Once I signed one of those sheets of paper and gave it back to them, we were free to come and go as we please, and basically do whatever we want. So, as directed, on our merry way we go.

We have a regular spot in Daytona, right off I-95, where we like to stop for barbecue. It's a place where you go to the counter and order, and then they bring the food to you. Employees seem to be wearing masks, patrons are not. Except for us, all patrons choose to eat inside, even though it's a gorgeous day outside. We pay for our food and, sensibly, eat at the tables outdoors. After this, it's on to our final destination, which is Lake Worth, Florida (a mere stone's throw from the "fabled" Mar-a-Lago). Before even going to the house, we decided to stop at both the local fruit market, and a regular market, to get some supplies for the short trip, and to get something to prepare at home that evening; not taking any chances with takeout food, until we survey the area. Much to our surprise, Lake Worth seems to be doing the right thing. Face coverings are required by both employees, and customers, at indoor locations, making us feel slightly more comfortable. However, the story doesn't end there.

The next little twist is actually the crux of this story for me. As I mentioned, our little area was following the desired protocols correctly. Over the next couple of days in the area, we went to both a liquor store, and a Trader Joe's in Wellington (about 5-6 miles away). At the liquor store, they were actually spot checking temperatures of their cashiers, in addition to having them wear masks, but there were no restrictions on customers (I think we were the only ones who had them on). Then, at Trader Joe's, they were extremely vigilant; masks definitely required, only 40 people allowed in store at a time. Conversely, on Saturday night, we went to an ice cream shop in Lantana (about 5 miles in a different direction), which apparently seems to be an area with no restrictions (employees of the shop wearing masks, but no requirements for masks or social distancing on customers). The point of this last little part is, it's not even state by state, it's not even city by city. It doesn't even seem to be town by town. It seems as if every tiny jurisdiction has their own set of rules. How is one supposed to know where is 'safe' to go, and where to avoid? And how 'safe' are the 'safe' areas if people 5 miles away, who are certainly coming into these areas, are living by a totally different set of guidelines? And, bottom line, if we continue to go on this way, with no coherent strategy, and no consistency whatsoever, how is there any chance that things are ever going to get better?

I want to add one other little thing. Midday Saturday, I said that we should take a drive to the local beach, just to see what it's like over there. They were only using half the parking lot, and had half roped off. But, it didn't seem to have the desired effect. The beach itself seemed packed. Lot's of younger people seemed to be parking at a distance, and merely walking in, and the parking restrictions were just creating a clusterfuck of people waiting for parking. Later in the afternoon, at a time when people are generally leaving the beach, we took a ride to both Boynton Beach and Del Ray Beach. Both were totally packed, with lots and lots of people waiting or driving around hoping to park. We've been there in June before. Never seen beaches this packed. I'm sure it has a great deal to do with there not being a great deal of options of things for people to do.That being said, I think it's safe to say that people cramming all throughout the beaches is not gonna help matters much.

I could add more experiences about the return drive home. But it would be similar to what I've already said, except to add that We certainly got some 'What the fuck is this asshole/loser/pussy doing with a mask on' looks, as well.