Florida Tourism - The Destination Funeral

I was trying to find out what happened to the lovely 33-acre May Mann Jennings Park over on the North Side when I had this great idea for tourism in Jacksonville. It's mostly because Streetview of the park seemed to only show the Evergreen Cemetery, which kind of shares (or overruns) the park. In fact, COJ says the May Mann Jennings Park has "been returned to a natural, undeveloped state." For those of you who don't know government code, this means there's no funding for a park in an industrial/hood area of town. Anyhow, my search for a forgotten gem of a park was thwarted, but the cemetery next door got me to thinking about Florida/Jacksonville tourism, and I wondered if anyone had ever considered a destination funeral. 

Wanna Get Flamed on NextDoor in Jacksonville? Suggest Masks

A neighbor went to a local ice cream shop where none of the employees were wearing masks, so she posted that she did not order anything and asked if anyone knew the manager. She wasn't really irate or mean-spirited in her post, just saying she was surprised that the business had no mask policy on Mothers' Day, 2020. We learn later in the post that she has a family member who has contracted the virus and another one who works at a hospital, which she mentions after some of the comments.

Let's take a look at some of the responses our neighbor received for asking about the sanitary conditions at a local eatery:

Speak with your wallet and just leave it at that....

This means, of course, don't eat there. Of course, the woman had already said she didn't eat there, but this post basically says don't eat there AND shut your mouth about it.

I don't have a problem with it.

I'm not sure adding this statement adds anything to the discussion. But it's also not mean.

This poor squirrel wasnt wearing a mask in public. Look at what happened to him 😢

One guy decided that a dead squirrel would be a humorous way to ridicule the mask-wearing people, I guess. A few more people commented on the dead squirrel. I assume that the idea here is that masks don't really protect anyone, since cars will still run you over. While it's true that masks can't protect pedestrians on Beach Boulevard, they actually do help to prevent the spread of viruses.

Stay away and keep your family safe so the rest of us can go there and enjoy their delicious ice cream - in peace

I guess this one is meant to say that people who complain make life difficult for the rest of us who want to enjoy our food prepared without masks during a pandemic. It's like when my wife makes me leave the room so that she can watch a Hallmark Channel Christmas movie - in peace. 

Living your life in fear will kill you quicker than experiencing life to its fullest. Just sayin.

The logic here is flawed. Yes, if you live every day in debilitating paranoia, that's probably not good for your health. However, the original post didn't seem to come from someone who was living in fear. In fact, she had ventured out on Mothers' Day. I am apprehensive of riding a motorcycle, and I can therefore guaranty you that I will not die while riding one, but it's not like I dwell on NOT riding daily. But I might shake my head when I see someone speeding past me at 100mph on McCormick. And my fear still won't kill me, unless I swerve to miss the crotch rocket and swerve again to miss a squirrel and then again to miss a pedestrian crossing outside of a crosswalk and crash into a tree.

Bottom lines is if anyone disagrees with how someone runs their business.... just don’t go That simple . America is about personal freedom and the right to choose. Consequences be what they are

Good, a bottom line for all of us to learn from. The problem with this reasoning is that during an outbreak, we are all kind of responsible to each other. It's not the same thing as whether or not a business owner comes out against homosexuality or in favor of gun control. I've seen all the virus outbreak, zombie apocalypse movies, and high school health class videos, so I am an authority on the spread of disease. 

Then don’t go there!!! Stay home and don’t go out. This whole thing is BS trying till kill our economy..

I am not sure who really wants to kill the economy. I guess the mindset would be that Demoncrats will win in elections if they can prove the president didn't take the virus seriously. However, that also would mean that any country with liberals in power (and also experiencing the pandemic) will also decide to vote against the party in power. I can see this kind of tactic working in North Korea, maybe, where there's no outside news. Even if you believe that this is nothing more than the flu, then it's the flu in every country on earth, and I don't think that every opposition party in every country really wants to ruin the global economy in order to win elections. 

You all make me sick. Keyboard warriors; with your nose so far in everyone's business and trying to cry to someone and get your way and have things changed to how you want them...then disguise it by saying you're trying to save the world and be the bigger person. Good lord-get a hobby

I wish that I had more hobbies right now. I'm stuck reading NextDoor posts for entertainment. The point here is that the folks who wear masks are trying to both getting in other people's business (to NOT wear masks) and crying to get their way. These people, apparently, simply love masks. I have worn a mask for several hours in a row, so I can attest that no one loves wearing them. I don't like the way they make me feel or the way they make other people look. I freaking hate masks, but I'm willing to wear mine in order to protect others and myself. I don't want there to be universal mask laws forever, and even if that was proven to be the best course of action, I still would not like it. 

You really think a mask makes ANY difference at all?

This comment led into a debate about science. If you are dumb enough to ask this question, then I just shake my head in your general direction. Even really stupid people can admit that masks do, in fact, make a difference when it comes to the transmission of a virus. Masks are not 100% effective, and there's some truth to the notion that people become overconfident, but even most flat-earthers and climate-change-deniers will agree that a face covering makes a difference. For those of you on the fence, consider the purpose of the masks I own--I bought them when I refinished my wood floors to keep dust particles out of my nose and mouth. Even though you can't see a virus, and it's smaller than wood dust, the principal is the same. Even if ALL masks do is keep us from touching our own mouths and noses, that's still something.

You don’t have to eat there. They can do what they want

This comment is probably fairly consistent with the general mindset in Jax. Consider this, however: government (even for the most conservative people) has public safety as one of its core responsibilities. Police, firefighters, paramedics, disaster relief, etc. We don't need government to dictate how we live generally, but a pandemic qualifies as one of those moments when we as individuals should probably pay attention. So during that time, if the government says that people serving food must wear masks, then that should be what those people do. However, since our government response has been a patchwork of rules and exceptions, I myself do not know if this ice cream shop was or was not following either rules or even guidance by the entity with our safety as its main tenant. If there were no restrictions, then it does become a simple case of eating where you feel comfortable.

Everything on here turns into a controversial post. this app is called next door and I'm glad I don't live next door to a lot of you. Most of you never have anything nice to say at all... You're just mean and cowardly

I just liked this post, even if it's not really targeting one side or the other. We've gotten so used to trolling on news sites and responding to famous people on Twitter or even distant relatives on Facebook that we forget that those are real people. NextDoor is an app that shows real names and probably even addresses, and a lot of people treat it as if they are flaming a Politico article. Forget about the neighbor dog crapping on your lawn when you can see what he thinks about wearing face masks on NextDoor. And also forget about discussing real ideas with one another over a beer. 

In case you were wondering, the ice cream place is Bruster's on Atlantic. I went there with my family about a week after these posts, and the 20-or-so teens inside were definitely not wearing masks. We still ordered ice cream and social distanced. I told my wife that all the kids working there are probably making out with each other after work, so it's not like face masks are going to stop the spread of Covid-19 (or herpes) among the crew. The situation did make us uncomfortable, and I commend the original NextDoor writer for taking a stand and leaving, but we had also not had any decent ice cream in two months, so we went for it. If you want to support or boycott Bruster's for political reasons, feel free. As for me, I'm just hoping my ice cream didn't come with a topping of Coronavirus. Or herpes.

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