Isn’t it weird? I’ve noticed it too, and I don’t even regularly ride public transit here. I have several friends who get the shot and end up getting sick, but I don’t and I tend to not get it… Maybe it’s working in an institution of higher learning (with, what 30 or 40,000 kids?).
8 Likes
I don’t see people very often, I leave the house a couple of times a week, maybe. So, my only option is to get the flu shot. Some years I get sick, some I don’t. My partner never gets the shot, and never gets sick. Yeah, I’m jealous.
4 Likes
To clarify this comment: Continuing to have a discussion when a view is diametrically opposed to yours is a wasted effort. Thus no point in continuing. Hope this clears that up.
Not when you consider that all a vaccine consists of is limited exposure to a tiny amount of whatever virus they’re trying to prevent you from getting, so that your body can preemptively build up a resistance to it… which is exactly why some people still get sick after having a flu shot - the amount wasn’t tiny enough for that person’s particular system.
Being that I’m not a fan of needles, I’d rather just take my chances with regular old exposure.
Yes, I’d imagine that your body has built up a stronger immunity of its own just from such consistent exposure.
That’s a bummer; do whatcha gotta do.
No need; I knew what you meant and took the opportunity to make your response into a double entendre, one that worked pretty well, because despite your claim that there’s “no need to continue,” you did so anyway.
Abject defeatism helps nothing and no one, I stand by that.
8 Likes
Don’t feel too bad, I get a flu shot every year and sometimes still catch a flu as well, while my husband never gets it and gets multiple infections every year (he’s a perfect example of someone who should probably get a flu shot, but refuses based on needle-fear).
Medical science is all about large population effects, so our individual experiences don’t count for much, but if studied could point to more effective immunization protocols. It’ll never happen, though. Too expensive.
11 Likes
Cleanup in Aisle 5!
Oh. Cleanup’s complete. Mostly? I’ve moved three posts into the trashbin. It’s summer, tempers are short and temperature high, but we still expect y’all to refrain from personal attacks.
Love,
- Not the wolf
15 Likes
I’m a perfectionist, so cognitive dissonance is pretty much a constant for me. Every damn lawn sign and bumper sticker triggers me. When I try to relax, my mind continually drifts toward Donald Trump, homophobic baker lady, or whatever the latest thing is, and I have to work to focus on the things that actually make me happy. And that can be a real challenge—if I’m at a museum with a genuine t-rex skeleton in front of me, I’m thinking about creationists and how they’re trying to ruin this for everyone.
What really stand out are interactions with my Christian fundamentalist brother. Out of concern for my soul, he feels compelled to explain that atheists are incapable of moral reasoning, bear responsibility for the holocaust, etc., yet doesn’t seem to understand why this kind of behavior is causing people to avoid him.
Really, though, the cognitive dissonance is largely our fault for having unrealistic expectations. If you had a time machine, pretty much anywhere you landed you’d encounter cruelty, ignorance and authoritarianism. Why should our own time be any different? I blame civics classes for making it seem that all our mistakes are in the past, when, in fact, freedom and justice are ongoing struggles with battles that must be repeated with every generation.
9 Likes
I only ride the subway a few times a week, but I’m always joking one day city workers will show up at our office, brick up all the entrances, and paint yellow crosses on them.
Seriously. It’s astonishing how many people there are sick at any given time.
Still, it’s been a few years since I got the flu. I’m fine with getting shots, but I don’t get flu shots because I will get ill from it. Instead I’ve instituted a habit of washing my hands as soon as I get home (and acting like my hands are slightly dirty otherwise). And if there’s a real epidemic going on, I just stay home and get things done from there , which thankfully we’re allowed to do.
Seems to work.
ETA: I read a while ago a “permanent” flu shot is being worked on: you’d only need to get it once. Now that I’d be first in line for (er, so long as it was a Friday so I could spend the weekend chilling out and feeling ill).
7 Likes
I’d think authoritarian populists in the tech world would mean people like Steve Ballmer from Microsoft. Or the Uber guy, whatever his name is. Travis Kalanick.
2 Likes
I’ve never met a Ballmer fan, period – certainly not like the fans Jobs has, where even saying something like, “he was great at X but could have been better at Y” is risking a pile-on. To me Ballmer is more like an oligarch (“our OS is on 90% of office computers, deal with it”). The Uber guys are just libertarians, and have already seen some backlash.
7 Likes
No one would expect me not to be the neighborhood buzzkill, so I’m jumping in:
The Flu Shot
There are a bunch of circulating flu strains every year. We (and I do consult on these projects as a methods person) pick the flu strains to include in the next year’s shot based on a bunch of factors. Most of the time, it’s pretty good. But a number of things can result in a person getting the shot and getting the flu (Edit: you cannot get the flu from the flu shot): getting it too late in the year, contact with populations that have different strains, and us getting the science wrong. Some people you would expect to be fine without one - universities typically provide them free to students and very low-cost to grad students and professors on campus.
But if you can get one, you really, really ought to get one. It can be hard to tell if someone cryptically has a disorder or vulnerability that means the flu could put them in the hospital for weeks. About 5 years back, my friend landed in the hospital with the flu due to an immune condition he didn’t know he had. He had been vaccinated, but it didn’t take due to this problem. The best thing to do is keep the flu out of circulation as much as possible.
17 Likes
Understood.
Even still, the flu shot is not for everyone. I know two people with partial paralysis from it.
It’s always a balance, and anyone with anything that makes them an outlier have to weigh which side of the balance will provide them with the most benefit.
5 Likes
I’ve never seen anyone argue that people with medical conditions that preclude them from getting vaccines should be forced to get vaccines.
5 Likes
I have. Many times. It’s unpleasant, especially since the person being (sometimes literally) yelled at often is already not in the best of health.
ETA: the general message is either they’re a hypochondriac or an anti-vaxxer – heavy stuff to throw at someone who is neither and may not feel like arguing/being embarrassed/both.
8 Likes
Well, it’s unfortunate that you’ve seen that. After years in research, and many public events discussing the science behind vaccines, I’ve never had the misfortune to see something like that. Especially shocking since every public health researcher I’ve ever worked with has been emphatic that protection of people who have vaccine counterindications is one of the reasons why everyone who is able to must vaccinate.
What a bummer.
15 Likes
That’s interesting, because the people I’ve seen doing it are not academics or researchers – they’re nurses, or in the pharmaceutical industry (non-research obs), or not related to medicine professionally at all.
Getting back to cognitive dissonance, it’s a good example of people refusing to deal with an issue in a multi-faceted way.
5 Likes
- raises hand * I have a sensitivity to eggs. The pharmacists I have talked to have flat out refused to administer the flu shot to me.
That is why my recommendation is usually that if you don’t have a medical condition that prevents it, get vaccinated. This especially applies to things with a greater chance to kill you than the average flu (though let’s not forget 1918).
Because I am selfish and want to see good herd immunity out there. And if you can’t get vaccinated, good hygiene is key. Handwashing is highly underrated.
20 Likes
Civilisation has been coming to an end any day now as long as civilisation has been around. Sometimes they’re right, albeit in a very localised sense. Sometimes.
9 Likes
I have a 5 dollar bill that says thats true of all of the people, but only some of the people all the times. Some people, sheesh!
2 Likes
is exhibit A of why rich and educated still equals overweening stupidity.
4 Likes