
Millions holed up at home as U.S. routines shift profoundly - spking
https://apnews.com/b64cf00f37d8da2fad3533aa7686c53d
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shaneprrlt
Funny article my coworker shared about everyone being home:
[https://babylonbee.com/news/nations-nerds-wake-up-in-
utopia-...](https://babylonbee.com/news/nations-nerds-wake-up-in-utopia-where-
everyone-stays-inside-sports-canceled-social-interaction-forbidden)

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Red_Leaves_Flyy
My partner is a k-12 teacher who has been told to wfh. This is relatively
uncharted territory. I don't envy her. She's trying to figure out how to
support students in households without internet, with parents who are
technologically illiterate, in households with very high risk individuals,
etc. These are hard problems in a functioning society. I might get laid off
this week too. I don't look forward to being cooped up inside for weeks to
months. I guess I can keep trying to learn web dev to keep my mind busy, at
least until we get evicted from our home.

~~~
pengaru
> I don't look forward to being cooped up inside for weeks to months.

There's no need to be cooped up unless you're actually sick.

You can go for walks, runs, hikes, bike rides, do whatever outdoor activities
you want as long as it's not crowded, without it being a problem.

~~~
_bxg1
Just so long as it doesn't involve touching public objects with your hands.
Playgrounds, gyms, maybe even outdoor rock climbing are out.

~~~
debian3
Or just don’t touch your face and wash your hands

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ithkuil
This hits a core point: some rules protect you; other rules protect others
from you (even if you're asymptomatic)

In Italy the rules are designed to protect others from you.

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TheFiend7
Yet my software company refuses to even let people do voluntary WFH. Amazing.

~~~
stronglikedan
Assuming they didn't have a WFH policy in place before, it sounds like they're
remaining level-headed while everyone else is panicking, which is respectable.
Although, hopefully that won't continue to hold that line if things get bad
enough. All this assuming it's not already located in one of the few areas
with a high number of confirmed infected.

~~~
sever
Once it's bad enough, it's too late. It's like putting on a seat belt after
the crash.

~~~
stronglikedan
That's a disingenuous interpretation of what I said.

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notyourwork
With these changes, I wonder how much this impacts gas purchases. If people
are not going out for work, not going out to eat or shop, there has to be a
massive reduction in gas purchases.

~~~
spking
We already have the biggest oil surpluses ever recorded, and it's just going
to get bigger:

[https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Largest-Oil-Glut-In-
Hi...](https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Largest-Oil-Glut-In-History-
Could-Force-Oil-Even-Lower.html)

~~~
ars
Oil prices seem to be about half of what they were in Jan - but gas prices
don't seem to have fallen as much. Any idea why?

~~~
01100011
Gas prices can include significant taxes. I'm guessing it also takes a while
for the lower prices to propagate through the system. You also have refinery
bottlenecks, so even though we might have lots of crude, we don't have a glut
of refined gasoline yet.

~~~
theandrewbailey
There's costs to refine (requiring lots of energy input) and to transport the
gas, too.

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craftyguy
"'hacker' 'news' needs their hourly reminder that people are WFHing"

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ck2
But not millions of kids, not here, they are running around the neighborhood
screaming their lungs out unsupervised. Bringing that virus home to their
parents. At night the teenagers hang out in the parking lot and drink/smoke.
People just do not get it or more likely just do not care. It's one big
holiday for the carefree.

You can do everything right, be responsible for yourself and family but your
town is as screwed as the weakest link which are the thoughtless who do not
give a darn and no-one can stop them.

~~~
Red_Leaves_Flyy
Bad parents are going to be negligent regardless of the circumstances.

