Nancy Williams: 6 feet of distance between us isn’t enough
Most of us learned basic measurement long ago. Third grade or so. Feet, yards and miles. Again, it was long ago. And it shows.
For this 6 feet thing, I want some of us to have a refresher. Or carry around yardsticks. Seems lots of us have different ideas as to the size of “6 feet” of social distance.
The term social distance is misleading. It's physical distance.
I'm not talking about the people who are simply ignoring the 6 feet rule and doing whatever they want. I mean the people who think they ARE 6 feet away and aren't. When we’re all measuring by eyeball, our estimations vary widely. That’s my point, distance isn’t an opinion.
When the 6 feet rule was first in place, but before the stay home directive, I was in a convenience store and a fella was 3 feet behind me in line. I moved forward, so did he. I pointed out he was too close. He said he usually stands much closer to people in lines. I said if you usually stand closer and now you are standing farther away, so therefore feel like it’s 6 feet — that doesn’t impact the actual distance. He rolled his eyes and moved an inch further back. I let him go ahead of me and stood 10 feet behind him to make a point. Which didn’t work so well because people couldn’t tell I was in line and kept getting in front of me.
My arm is about 3 feet long. If I extend my arm with a yardstick in it and whirl around in a circle, and it whacks you, you weren’t 6 feet away from me. Just saying. Two people riding in a regular car usually aren’t 6 feet apart, unless one is in the trunk. Saw a city bus go by with 12 or more riders. No way they could be 6 feet apart either. I diagrammed it on paper. Confirmed with a ruler and geometry.
For fun (yes, scratching the barrel bottom for entertainment) I sat in my car in the parking lot of the store doing a crossword puzzle and observing people coming and going. Roughly a third had on masks. However, they were walking within 2 feet of others. The masks don’t negate the distance rule.
I blame the masks. Exhaling in to the mask means you inhale a higher concentration of carbon dioxide than usual. Maybe less oxygen clouds your ability to do distance estimates. Lower your mask, take a few deep breaths, then notice you are 2 feet, not 6 from another shopper in the grocery store. Facebook friend Margaret suggested grocery store aisles be one-direction. I think it’s a great idea. Put arrows made with painter’s tape on the floor and have all cart traffic going one-way.
And in my opinion, 6 feet is sorta cutting it close anyway. Depends some on personality. Always an overachiever, if the rule is 6 feet, I'm going for 8 to overdo, then 2 more feet for extra credit. Ten feet is my social distance.
But it’s not only the way I’m made, I believe there’s also a bit of science to my 10 or more feet preference. Went to a county fair last summer, standing at least 10 feet from a cute calf when it sneezed. Calf sneeze spray landed on me. It didn’t soak me, although I needed a napkin to wipe off my arm. That memory got me pondering. I looked up how far human sneeze mist gets sprayed. Up to 20 feet is what I read.
Science Mom Me started considering how long the spray stays in the air. In ninth grade physical science, I remember seeing how when two drops of water almost touch they jump on each other and become one. Why then, when a sneeze droplet hits a water molecule in the air don't they also become one? Someone sneezes and you walk by that spot a bit later and breathe in the sneeze-tainted air. And/or get it on your body and carry it to your home.
I read on a science website that a typical cough produces 3,000 droplets and a sneeze produces up to 40,000 droplets. Bigger droplets fall to the ground, while the smaller, lighter ones aren’t as affected by gravity and can stay airborne almost indefinitely. I’m not even sure it requires a sneeze or cough to export germs. When we exhale on glass, it fogs up and moisturizes the glass surface. If the glass isn’t there, those particles go in the air.
I know I have no credentials or qualifications for opining about medical matters, but to my way of thinking 6 feet is way too close. I’m more comfortable with porch to end-of-driveway holler dialogues that go on. Neighbor standing on the porch while another walking by shouts a hello and swaps news. Makes gossip more efficient too. If a neighbor shouts out the latest scoop so the other one 20 yards away can hear it, so do the rest of us who are out in our yards. Content normally whispered loses some of its appeal when it’s delivered as a yell out, "Guess what I heard ... but you can't tell anybody!"
To be clear, except for a ride to a parking lot to watch people, I’m staying home. It’s our duty. Blows my mind how many people are patriotic enough to pick up a weapon and go to war to defend our country but won’t stay home. Patriotism runs thin when instead of a display of macho, what you're asked to do is nothing. That's asking way too much.
One friend has young adult family members who hop somewhat from household to household in different counties. One night here, another night there. I raised a question regarding people who do that being corona pollinators. I first said unknowingly being corona pollinators, but then removed the “unknowingly.” By now, how can people not know?
My friend said when they come here, we wipe down everything. I pointed out something I heard; think of the virus as glitter. Seriously, there is no amount of cleaning that removes all the glitter specks. Ever. Wiping down after a pollinator visits is a lame second choice to asking them visit later. Unless you can wipe down the air around them too.
For now, we all need to pick a perch and stay on it.
Sit. Stay. Obey.
This is the opinion of Nancy Williams, the coordinator of professional education at UNC Asheville.
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