https://amgreatness.com/2020/04/13/six-feet-under/
There will be plenty of soul searching after this crisis abates: demanding to know the scientific rationale for keeping us six feet apart when people needed each other most should be at the top of the list.
During a run over the weekend, I approached a couple walking in front of me. They appeared to be in their mid- to late-60s and had just crossed a somewhat busy 10-lane highway in southwestern Florida after shopping at a large grocery store. (They were carrying a few bags.)
But apparently my looming presence posed a lethal threat to the couple: As I came closer, the two nearly lept into a row of hedges to avoid any chance they would share air space with me for more than three seconds. They bolted in a panic as if I were wielding a flaming machete.
Here I was—an obviously healthy person jogging in the middle of the afternoon in the Florida heat and humidity—deemed a public risk simply because I would violate their personal space outside for a fleeting moment.
What in the world would prompt otherwise sane people to act so irrationally?
The explanation, of course, is the six-feet “social distancing” policy recommended by the Centers for Disease Control allegedly to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus. What initially sounded like reasonable suggestions—keep some space between yourself and someone exhibiting symptoms, don’t touch your face, stay home if you’re sick—has quickly devolved into a nearly comical world where people dive off sidewalks to avoid a momentary invasion of their six-feet perimeter from clearly healthy countrymen.