Social distancing: let the sidewalks be your guide

It now seems that most of the world will be in some form of social distancing as a prelude to full quarantine or isolation in order to flatten the infection curve for COVID-19. California went shelter in place last week and New York is going on “pause” on Sunday.

And it now seems like anyone I’ve ever gave my email address to has a COVID-19 message.

Hopefully this will be useful.

In NYC, and other metropolitan areas, sometimes we can’t always just stay the fuck home (although, seriously, stay the fuck home). So, if you want to stay 4’ to 6’ away from people use the sidewalk. Each square of a sidewalk, commonly called a flag, is between 4’ to 6’ wide.

So when I had to take my kid to the pediatrician yesterday, or when I had to go to the laundromat this morning, I kept to the other side of the street from people and 1-2 flags of sidewalk between us.

Let the sidewalk be your guide.

But seriously: only go outside when absolutely necessary. Do your part. So, just stay inside. We are doing it because we aren’t healthcare professionals or jerks. We all need to play our part in flattening the curve. If you want to be part of something, be part of the 101st Couch Commandos so that we don’t overwhelm our healthcare professionals, or unwittingly infect those who have health complications or are imminiocompromosed.

Be the couch hero of your dreams.


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