I live in East TN

[TNNurse]

near Gatlinburg but far enough away. The photos on the news of the streets there yesterday are packed with people. Sidewalks are crowded as are the streets with cars.

They are not there to support the businesses which I am sure are struggling. They are there because they are selfish and immature ad ignorant. They are probably local as well as from surrounding states.

There is no hope.

[kozar]

1. in Bristol.

Things a bit weird here too. Seems we have a lil race coming again. Local (even some Speedway officials) are planning events for OUTSIDE the track,even though fans can't go in.. things that make you shake your head.


Koz

[Delphinus]

2. I fear

you are correct - there is no hope. With over 90,000 deaths as of this morning, and people feeling things are all over, our dying for the economy is the scenario.

[Newest Reality]

3. Well, there should be a sign!

"Abandon all hope, ye who enter here!" - Dante, Inferno. They may be surfing the River Styx sooner than they thought.

I hear that the Grim Reaper is hiring:

[Wounded Bear]

11. GR gonna need some assistance soon...

[TNNurse]

4. Numbers here have been pretty low,

I fear that will change soon.

[Hortensis]

5. But then you're not seeing the ones who are NOT out, are you?

There's no virtue and no benefit in working ourselves up into unrealistic despair by some fools rushing to act out and venal media sensationalizing it.

We have to keep what's happening in perspective and remember that when it comes to news, "if it bleeds it leads." People behaving responsibly is not news when it's the norm.

[samnsara]

7. very true..i have been self exiled for the entire time. I go to town once a week, masked up..

...gloves the whole thing and there are a lot more like me. So the Walking Dead we see out and about are playing Russian roulette with their lives and the lives of those they love. Thank gawd for the essential workers and those who keep the country going..and YES those of us who are behaving responsibly as well.... We are going to keep the country going when everyone else is sick.

[Hortensis]

8. Yes, and same here. We're retired and at real risk,

so, like many millions of other fortunate-unfortunates, we have both ability and reason to isolate.

It's the compelled "essential" workers, and hapless families, of course. Not the idiot actors-out, most of whom are relatively safely younger and most of whom will be okay while they endanger others who don't have their choice. Unfortunately, a lot of those they endanger are middle aged and older. And not all as healthy as they need to be.

[Hugin]

12. venal...

Very apropos in the current situation. I guess it's my word-of-the-day. Thanks.

ve·nal adjective
showing or motivated by susceptibility to bribery.
"Their generosity had been at least partly venal."

[Hortensis]

13. Yeah, I used it because I think I've read it most often applied to

politicians and to media betraying expectations of what they're supposed to be for benefit. These days a lot of RW agents are embedded at all levels of most MSM. Whatever various forms the returns to the filthy-rich Sulzbergers who own and run the NY Times take, they're all returns for betrayal.

[samnsara]

6. My dtr lived in Castillion Springs near Gallatin for 10 years..

...i loved visiting her there 3-4 times a year. Very pretty area. We used to go to Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg every year between Xmas and New years. Those cabins are such a deal!!!! Can they drink booze in Pigeon Forget yet? That would have kept them home.

yep a lot of yahoos there...same as here.

[Docreed2003]

9. Castalian Springs?

Small world. I grew up in that area near Castalian Springs, in Bethpage

[Ingersollman]

10. I'm

in East TN, too. Probably 20 miles from Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge. The influx of people into that area, and the crowded conditions that that causes has me deeply worried. I try never to venture to either of those places at any time, but especially now I will stay away. However, my county seat is in Sevierville, and any county business I need to conduct must take place there.

I agree that the people coming into these places are selfish, immature, and willfully ignorant.

I'm losing hope myself.

[world wide wally]

14. Apparently now they think that freedom IS free

I realize that requesting you to wear a mask or stay at home is an assault on your freedom, but hey, WTF