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Let's talk about Con Crud. It has a few other names you may have heard like Con Flue, The Blorch, or PAX Pox. It all comes from one source: Someone sick with the cold or flu attends a convention and infects a lot of people.
Now imagine that with COVID... https://twitter.com/ladailynews/status/1310616461648551936
Now imagine that with COVID... https://twitter.com/ladailynews/status/1310616461648551936
"But why would anyone go to a convention if they're sick?"
Because conventions are expensive and people look forward to them. If you're attending a major convention, you've likely had to fight to get tickets, particularly to events like PAX, Gen Con, San Diego Comic Con, etc.
Because conventions are expensive and people look forward to them. If you're attending a major convention, you've likely had to fight to get tickets, particularly to events like PAX, Gen Con, San Diego Comic Con, etc.
While the passes themselves aren't THAT expensive - usually $50-150 - the rest of the trip IS. Hotel rooms, rental cars, flights. That's sometimes a thousand dollars or more tied up in attending the event, a good chunk of which is non-refundable.
On top of that, you've spent months looking forward to this event. Spending a long weekend going to panels, shopping the dealer hall, playing games, seeing friends you rarely get to see because of distance. And that convention only happens once a year.
So you've got the sniffles. What are you going to do? Cancel the entire trip you've planned for and anticipated for MONTHS just because you've got a little cough?
I REALLY want to hammer home the fiscal part of this because you're also throwing away hundreds in cancellation fees. For a lot of people - esp. those in their 20s - they've likely saved up specifically for the convention and $200-500 in fees is a financial hit they can't take.
Not to mention you know you'll spend the weekend on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. watching all your friends have the fun you should have while you're stuck with chicken soup and nyquil. All together, it creates a HUGE pressure to suck it up and tough it out.
So you just became Patient Zero in an outbreak...
Conventions are thousands of people crammed into tight spaces indoors with poor ventilation who are touching the same surfaces over and over again along with more than normal amounts of physical contact.
You couldn't design a better environment for an infection to spread.
You couldn't design a better environment for an infection to spread.
So the obvious choice for people is to stay at home if they're sick
That's why I made a point of outlining why there's a lot of pressure on people to NOT stay at home if they're sick. The combination of losing a LOT of money for nothing and FOMO can make people take risks.
That's why I made a point of outlining why there's a lot of pressure on people to NOT stay at home if they're sick. The combination of losing a LOT of money for nothing and FOMO can make people take risks.
Oh, and I didn't even mention how much extra goes in if you're not from the country where the convention will be, like travel visas and the like, which adds yet another level of pressure to dismiss stuffy nose and coughing as just allergies and go anyway.
So what's someone to do in that situation?
Honestly, ignore it and stay home anyway. You don't want to be the reason other people get sick.
But let me remind you THIS IS A PANDEMIC AND COVID IS DEADLY WITH LONG TERM HEALTH EFFECTS FOR SURVIVORS.
Honestly, ignore it and stay home anyway. You don't want to be the reason other people get sick.
But let me remind you THIS IS A PANDEMIC AND COVID IS DEADLY WITH LONG TERM HEALTH EFFECTS FOR SURVIVORS.
And this is why I'm very angry because the convention organizers KNOW THIS. They count on the fees and FOMO to convince people to attend and buy autographs and photos with celebrities and spend money with vendors.
SO THEY SHOULD KNOW BETTER THAN TO HOLD THE CON IN A PANDEMIC.
SO THEY SHOULD KNOW BETTER THAN TO HOLD THE CON IN A PANDEMIC.
So let's make this perfectly clear:
The organizers of @comicconla decided that making money for themselves is more important than the people who will die as a result of their event. They don't care if you live or die, so long as you buy a ticket first.
The organizers of @comicconla decided that making money for themselves is more important than the people who will die as a result of their event. They don't care if you live or die, so long as you buy a ticket first.
