Thread by @tmprowell

🧵 A little vignette for #ASCO22 attendees & esp speakers/chairs. Today I spoke in an Ed session. E350 is small enough I could see faces. When we began, most were in 😷, but I counted 11 who weren’t. One had a drink. The rest didn’t appear to be eating/drinking. Importantly… 1/

a few people (not sure if in 😷 or not) were coughing. That’s something you always hear, but it takes on added significance in a #pandemic because #COVIDisAirborne & current #Covidvariants spread as easily as measles, the most contagious respiratory pathogen on earth. /2

Before I began my talk, I called attention to the fact that I would be continuing to #WearAMask while speaking. #Covid19 doesn’t care that I’m at the #ASCO22 podium. I said I was speaking masked to model the #OncTwitter behavior I hope to see. /3

And then I called attention to the fact that most people in the audience were also masked, & I thanked them for keeping everyone safe at #ASCO22. That’s it. When I sat down 7 minutes later, only 2 people were unmasked. About 40 mins later, it was the same: all but 2 in 😷. /4

This tells me a few things:
👉Most people have a mask & they’ll put it on w/ minor prompting, even w/ a brief respectful reminder & w/o a direct request.
👉 It’s possible to use “peer pressure” for good.
👉We have a kind & responsible #ASCO22 #community. I’m proud of us. /5

The most important thing though was that this evening I got an email from someone in the audience who shared that their unvaccinated kid is #immunocompromised. They told me they were nervously listening to the coughs & thanked me for what I had said. /6

Our #ASCO22 session contained many #MedStudentTwitter & @HemOncFellows, one of whom said to me after “I was planning to do onc anyway, but all of the #OncTwitter people just seem cool. You can tell you guys really like each other.” A reminder that the 🌍 is always watching. /7

So if you’re privileged enough to be given a microphone at #ASCO22, or anywhere, USE IT FOR ALL THE GOOD THAT YOU CAN. And remember that someone is always watching & taking their cues from what ALL of us say/do. Choose to believe people want to do the right thing. #ASCO22 /End