Credit to
@Poker Zombie for exposing a blind spot in my thinking regarding my "return to normalcy' statement in post 414.
https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/covid-19-corona-virous-and-your-home-game.53913/post-1041555 More on that later.
Disclaimer: I understand how easily this virus is transmitted in relation to the common cold and the harm it does to a person's repository system. Furthermore, I am not a faith based person. We live in the 21st century, science informs my worldview.
As of Wednesday night, 142 people tested positive for the Coronavirus out of 3300 in the State of Maine. 75% of those cases were in the two counties with the largest urban population. There are no reported cases of Coronavirus in the county in which I live. The same is true for two of the three adjacent counties. Penobscot County, population 153,000, had reported four confirmed cases of the virus and two presumptive cases which later tested positive.
The following information provides a fuller picture of where I live as well as the dynamics of the people and the economy.
As stated in my earlier post, I live in a rural community of 550. The area has seen a significant loss of jobs in the timber and fishing industries over the last 25 years. Correspondingly, the major population centers of Washington County whose people depended on these natural resources for their livelihood has shrunk by 25 to 30 percent.
Sadly, I do not know of anyone who I play cards with in my age group or younger that hasn't lost a family member to opioids.
The players in my group are fiercely pro-Trump. (Donald Trump won Washington County by 19 percentage points.) I listen, but I do not engage in political conversations at the table, although my political leanings are well known based upon my brief answers to direct questions on the subject.
I have come to realize that cards are an important outlet for this particular group, the majority of whom are over 50. They have enjoyed playing NLHE (and Omaha-hi) together for 16 years.
I cut my participation to every other week late last year when the game started to grow stale. I know what I am about to say will offend some people on this site. I have made a conscious decision to support this game on a weekly basis during this pandemic until such a time that the virus is closer to home or is spreading in the counties surrounding us.
Why?
@Poker Zombie post made me rethink how quite the town is in comparison to last week. People are self isolating. The grocery store now has a bulletin in the entrance-way asking that people maintain a distance of six feet from other shoppers. There is a strip of blue tape on the floor six feet in front of the checkout line for people to stand behind while waiting their turn to check out. Acrylic panes supported by wooden braces separate the cashier from the customer. Like you might see in banks, there is an opening for money at the bottom. Surreal to say the least.
The five member Planning Board is not meeting this month due to, and I quote, "sleeper cells" carrying the virus. No joke.
I believe in being rational. I intentionally stayed at home during the two weeks when people were storming the grocery stores and Wal-Mart in droves buying a year's supply of toilet paper and provisions for a six month lock-down. I began to feel like I was on a Hollywood movie set that I had not been giving a script too. I could feel my stress levels build from witnessing everyone's irrational behavior on the few occasions I left home during this period.
I realize from my own experience that others in our poker group may be suffering from similar amounts of stress due to feelings of isolation and what they perceive as irrational behavior. Joining together when the world has gone mad gives oxygen to life. Maintaining this group's 16 year tradition of playing cards on Wednesdays at 7 o'clock has, in my judgement, psychological value that outweighs the risks involved.
Seven players showed up for the tournament Wednesday night versus eight last week. Only one player was over 60, the rest her age and older chose not to leave their homes. All but one stayed for the cash game, same as last week.
For reference, we normally have 12 to 14 players. I did not play cards on the 11th.