Parents are 5X as Worried about Infection and School than Work and Paying Bills • Hacker News Board

Re: Parents are 5X as Worried about Infection and School than Work and Paying Bills

#151

Post by tptacek » Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 8:57 PM UTC

jacquesm wrote: post #142

tptacek wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The difference in worry parents have over short term and "long term" death risks for their kids is marginal. In particular: if something could happen to jeopardize your kids lives while they are still kids --- which we do not know --- it's an overwhelming worry. This is one of those conversations where message board logic stands a good chance of taking us far away from how real-world humans would reason.

I think all it really does is that it highlights the difference between those who have children and those who do not. As a parent, I couldn't care less about the monetary impact of COVID-19 beyond the basics to survive and the years have taught us to be very frugal when we need to be. Meanwhile, the thought of sending my kids back to school in two weeks has me sleepless (again). We have already seen different evidenc…

My kids are going back to college in a couple days. They're adults! They're sharing an apartment this semester! And I'm a wreck. It's hard for me to fathom how this story is even news. What would be shocking is if the numbers had come in any closer between infection and work.

Re: Parents are 5X as Worried about Infection and School than Work and Paying Bills

#152

Post by heavyset_go » Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 8:57 PM UTC

highmastdon wrote: post #132

heavyset_go wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I am just so confused why some people are acting like kids are a different species when it comes to covid. Yes they have less effects than adults but some children do go to the hospital and ICU. And also they can easily spread it to the parents/grandparents. Minimization and denial are powerful psychological forces, and the fact that some children get the condition without severe symptoms lulls some people into com…

> The fact is that the virus inhabits the lungs, and damages tissue as it replicates. Just because someone isn't having an acute symptomatic response doesn't mean that there couldn't be long term effects from infection If this is the way to treat with life, how would you be still alive? Isn’t it the very reason we get ill because the body is treating the virus. Do you have any source to believe that asymptomatic infe…

> If this is the way to treat with life, how would you be still alive?

I'm confused as to why you're taking my observation about a novel deadly disease as advice to live the rest of your life by.

Re: Parents are 5X as Worried about Infection and School than Work and Paying Bills

#153

Post by okamiueru » Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 8:58 PM UTC

oxymoran wrote: post #123

I can’t believe how dismissive people are about people who are worried about their finances during this. So many false equivalencies being made about bankruptcy being preferable to death. I am not one of these people that is cavalier about COVID, it’s a real danger and the long term damage to the body is just being discovered. But we all know for sure what the long term health effects of poverty are. Whether you like…

Is this due to news in the US? Media and politics there is so different and confusing that I feel it's a completely different reality.

Re: Parents are 5X as Worried about Infection and School than Work and Paying Bills

#154

Post by draw_down » Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 8:59 PM UTC

oxymoran wrote: post #123

I can’t believe how dismissive people are about people who are worried about their finances during this. So many false equivalencies being made about bankruptcy being preferable to death. I am not one of these people that is cavalier about COVID, it’s a real danger and the long term damage to the body is just being discovered. But we all know for sure what the long term health effects of poverty are. Whether you like…

I agree, I just don't know if the situation as simple as "preventative measures or an economy, pick one". Maybe the economy gets screwed no matter what we pick. Like, if a restaurant is getting 25% of its usual business, is that because the government is requiring masks and social distancing, or is it because people just don't feel comfortable going to restaurants right now?

I don't mean to imply I know the answer, though for myself I'm definitely not interested in going to restaurants right now. I just see this cavalier assumption that there is some obvious step that people in power can take to make the economy good and they're just not doing it. I think it's easier to focus on that than to acknowledge stuff is gonna get bad regardless, and it's just shades of gray on how bad things will get and in which direction.

Re: Parents are 5X as Worried about Infection and School than Work and Paying Bills

#155

Post by beaner » Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 9:01 PM UTC

tptacek wrote: post #127

oxymoran wrote: post #123

I can’t believe how dismissive people are about people who are worried about their finances during this. So many false equivalencies being made about bankruptcy being preferable to death. I am not one of these people that is cavalier about COVID, it’s a real danger and the long term damage to the body is just being discovered. But we all know for sure what the long term health effects of poverty are. Whether you like…

The article says that parents are 5x as worried about C19 than about paying their mortgage. They're 1/5th as worried about the possible deaths of their family members as they are about their mortgage, which suggests that they, too, are very concerned about the economy.

> The article says that parents are 5x as worried about C19 than about paying their mortgage.

> They're 1/5th as worried about the possible deaths of their family members as they are about their mortgage

These two statements seem to be in conflict? I think your 2nd statement means to say "They're 1/5th as worried about their mortgage than they are about the possible deaths of their family members."

Re: Parents are 5X as Worried about Infection and School than Work and Paying Bills

#156

Post by jacquesm » Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 9:01 PM UTC

tptacek wrote: post #151

jacquesm wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think all it really does is that it highlights the difference between those who have children and those who do not. As a parent, I couldn't care less about the monetary impact of COVID-19 beyond the basics to survive and the years have taught us to be very frugal when we need to be. Meanwhile, the thought of sending my kids back to school in two weeks has me sleepless (again). We have already seen different evidenc…

My kids are going back to college in a couple days. They're adults! They're sharing an apartment this semester! And I'm a wreck. It's hard for me to fathom how this story is even news. What would be shocking is if the numbers had come in any closer between infection and work.

Ugh. I feel for you. That's a tough position to be in, college is if possible even worse than grade school where mine are going. Even so in your case the risk is clear and present, and the University teachers are going to be a lot more likely to establish what their own risk appetite is than grade school teachers. This whole situation sucks. Way too many unknowns and too many people pretending there is no problem. I'm not looking forward to this winter. It seems like a perfect storm is brewing: COVID-19 resurgence, US Elections (which will generate a lot of friction no matter what the outcome), Brexit. This will be a rough ride. Hang in there.

Re: Parents are 5X as Worried about Infection and School than Work and Paying Bills

#157

Post by mnm1 » Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 9:01 PM UTC

umvi wrote: post #30

roland35 wrote: post #19

Yeah this is definitely not surprising to the least! Even if I was laid off I am more worried about my children having long term health effects (or worse) than missing a few bills, and that is before considering how flexible lenders are claiming to be (I've gotten emails from all my major bills about covid related help they can provide). I am just so confused why some people are acting like kids are a different speci…

> I am just so confused why some people are acting like kids are a different species when it comes to covid. Well, it's not that surprising when you have a disease whose harm factor is a function of your age. The vast majority of covid deaths are the elderly. The tiniest minority of covid deaths are young children. Their ability to spread to adults is their biggest risk factor, not the disease itself.

> Their ability to spread to adults is their biggest risk factor, not the disease itself.

Even if this is true (we already have evidence it's not for some children), it's completely irresponsible to allow schools to open. We know children are infectious and easily spread the disease. There are other members of society besides children. Letting the virus run rampant in schools will lead to parents and other adults getting sick and dying. It's not ok for children to die but if their parents, grandparents, teachers, or parents' friends die it's somehow ok? What kind of logic is that?

Re: Parents are 5X as Worried about Infection and School than Work and Paying Bills

#158

Post by triceratops » Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 9:02 PM UTC

TheBlight wrote: post #73

roland35 wrote: post #19

Yeah this is definitely not surprising to the least! Even if I was laid off I am more worried about my children having long term health effects (or worse) than missing a few bills, and that is before considering how flexible lenders are claiming to be (I've gotten emails from all my major bills about covid related help they can provide). I am just so confused why some people are acting like kids are a different speci…

More kids go to the ICU and die due to the flu.

Who's gonna take care of the kids whose parents are in the ICU?

Re: Parents are 5X as Worried about Infection and School than Work and Paying Bills

#159

Post by analyte123 » Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 9:02 PM UTC

CasualSuperman wrote: post #8

Worrying about a potentially deadly illness that you can do little about, vs worrying about losing your source of income and having to.. look for another job. I'm definitely more worried about infection, too.

I worried about getting infected a lot back in February or March, so I ordered from Japan and India several different types of medicine with distinct mechanisms of action that were hypothesized to help with the disease. Several of these are in Phase 3 trials now or have had positive RCTs published outside the US. I still wear masks and avoid crowds, but it makes me feel a little better. For the sake of HN's SEO I won't list them out. This did not include the big bad one that was most heavily politicized, but these are also used by hundreds of millions of people per year.

Re: Parents are 5X as Worried about Infection and School than Work and Paying Bills

#160

Post by tptacek » Thu, Aug 13, 2020, 9:02 PM UTC

beaner wrote: post #155

tptacek wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article says that parents are 5x as worried about C19 than about paying their mortgage. They're 1/5th as worried about the possible deaths of their family members as they are about their mortgage, which suggests that they, too, are very concerned about the economy.

> The article says that parents are 5x as worried about C19 than about paying their mortgage. > They're 1/5th as worried about the possible deaths of their family members as they are about their mortgage These two statements seem to be in conflict? I think your 2nd statement means to say "They're 1/5th as worried about their mortgage than they are about the possible deaths of their family members."

Yeah, I flipped the terms in the second one. The intent remains clear I think.