There are a number of people who want to stay safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, but have found themselves making questionable decisions, because they’ve become acclimatized to it, and because they want to believe that their friends are healthy, because they look healthy, and reason that “of course, those friends are responsible, and I’m responsible, so it should be safe to get together and do something.”

Friends and family are the big problem. We need them. We’re social creatures. The thing is, if your friends choose to get together with you in a non-socially distanced way, it proves that they aren’t being careful, and then you have to wonder about all the other not-careful people they’ve been in contact with, and the people they’ve been in contact with and on and on.

When you come close to another human, you’re not just interacting with their germs and viruses. You’re interacting with the germs and viruses they’ve acquired from their friends, and their friends friends and…

It’s really hard to see the danger. It’s part of what’s helped our species survive. Minimizing danger is what allowed our ancient forefathers to go out and try to stab a mastodon with a spear.

So, here’s a flowchart to help you decide if going out, or getting together with others is a reasonable, logical, decision, and not just an emotional want.