D.C. & ATL's Blue Angels Flyover Crowds Flock to Nat'l Mall, Park ... A Sign of the Times
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3:51 PM PT -- The Blue Angels did a similar ceremony Saturday down at Piedmont Park in Atlanta, and the result was pretty much the same ... thousands flocked outside to see 'em, with little to no social distancing.
UPDATE
“Blue Angels and Thunderbirds over Piedmont Park in Atlanta!!! The crowd went wild cheering - wish you could appreciate how loud they cheered!! So proud to be an American! “
— Daniel Newmaη (@DanielNewman) May 2, 2020 @DanielNewman
🤦🏼♂️Oh sweet Jesus They Know Not what They Do pic.twitter.com/Zvf1xVtgXe
UPDATE
Videos of Atlanta residents coming out to droves have surfaced online, and while many watched the Bird show from above, it also appears several stuck around well afterward and just hung around. There are clips showing waves of people out in the fields, crossing a street and just being lackadaisical about it all.
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Piedmont Park earlier this afternoon. 😷pic.twitter.com/jwP2k2rh7b
— Everything Georgia (@GAFollowers) May 2, 2020 @GAFollowers
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Of course, Georgia's one of the states that started re-opening their economy this past week, and by the looks of this ... people there really took it to heart.
D.C.'s hosting of the Navy's Blue Angels and the Air Force's Thunderbirds -- and the enormous crowds that came out to see them -- is the latest example of people coming to terms with the fact that they'd rather put their health at risk than follow safety guidelines.
Here's the scene from the National Mall at our country's capital Saturday -- thousands of people swarming to one location and standing incredibly close to each other (many without masks) just to get out of the house and experience a taste of normalcy.
The blue Angels and the Thunderbirds flew over the national mall today to support our unsung heroes. pic.twitter.com/l5P7vxM4hG
— Bill Smith (@BillSmithTax1) May 2, 2020 @BillSmithTax1
This weekend's ceremony was to honor essential workers and health care providers on the front lines fighting COVID-19, but the mere act of having this awesome flyover might've been counterintuitive ... as you can see not many people are practicing social distancing.
We've been seeing this day in and day out across the country -- folks disregarding the stay-at-home orders and heading out in public, many of whom do it defiantly and unsafely.
Not a lot of social distancing happening on the National Mall right now ahead of the Blue Angels flyover.
— Justin McCarthy🌹🌅 (@jaymac1893) May 2, 2020 @jaymac1893
Not sure this is exactly the best way to honor COVID workers but... pic.twitter.com/tanVB5c82d
While it's easy to criticize a lot of these folks for putting their (and others') health at risk just to catch some rays -- the reality is becoming more and more apparent ... a lot of these people have it rough, and are just trying to cope. This is a complicated situation.
The fact this is happening in D.C. is especially telling, because health officials there say the coronavirus infection rate may not have even peaked.
Originally Published -- 12:27 PM PT
