for all the "ha ha the South lol" that's sprung up evergreen in response to that traveling two miles nonsense, a brief thread of confession:
I am one of the red spots on that map.

I have been working remotely and sheltering in place and only leaving the house to donate blood or perform essential services...
...I'm a domestic and sexual violence attorney whose territory is most of middle TN, and the courts are open to file and hear orders of protection.

So I have been multiple places, because I had to be, while doing absolutely everything possible to do business remotely.
I live in a suburban area, but it's more than two miles for me to drive to the blood donation center every other Friday to give platelets.

And I know a lot of the other red spots on that map, because I've lived or worked there.
Town is ten, fifteen miles away at best. Even in town, it's spread out to where it might be two miles to the store from your house.

And when I was in rural NE Tennessee I had a thirteen county coverage area for the services I provide, which even our otherwise closed courts consider emergency matters. One lawyer. Thirteen counties.

It's really easy to look and go "those people are ignorant and reckless" when you don't know the lay of the land, when the place you're sneering at might as well be Xanadu for all that you've been there. Don't do that. It's shitty and small and says more about you than them.

It's also an arbitrary metric. If you're driving, you're no more or less likely to spread the virus at your one stop if it's five miles as opposed to two, all other factors being equal. more than two doesn't mean pleasure trip.

Some of Tennessee's rural counties lack a hospital or an ER because the governor didn't expand Medicaid. Are they supposed to die quietly at home so you don't point and laugh at the rednecks (who you don't care are poor people, POC, the highest percentage of LGBTQ folks?)

this study is garbage, it doesn't take any factors including food deserts into account, it's there to confirm prejudices and not much else.
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