For those who are confused, a “mask mandate” does not mean a pleasant evening with the Lone Ranger.
It’s sort of a shame.
If it did, it might be easier to get the Trumpanzees to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
No, as most of you know since you’re smart enough to be reading this, a mask mandate is a requirement that people wear masks when going out in public and coming into contact with other people. With 100 million Americans still without vaccinations and the highly contagious Delta Variant spreading rapidly, it’s one of the only safe ways to attack the global pandemic that has killed more than 4 million people worldwide.
It is amazingly stupid — even by 2021 American standards — that trying to protect yourself and your loved ones from a deadly disease has become a political statement. Then again, the country that idolized Honey Boo Boo, the Kardashians and Donald Trump may no longer be capable of intelligent thinking.
My closest friend in the world has not been vaccinated. He says it isn’t a political statement, and I believe him. He has complicating medical conditions and is hoping his doctors will give him permission soon. I hope that’s true, because he’s at very high risk for the virus.
He lives in Southern California, and I am relatively certain that when he does leave the house, he wears a mask to give himself what protection he can from the virus.
As for people who don’t wear them, too many people see it as a personal freedom issue.
It isn’t.
One cannot say they won’t wear a mask because they’re not afraid of the virus. The fact is, people can have the virus and not even know it, meaning they could be spreading it to every maskless person with whom they come into contact.
Especially if they have also refused to be vaccinated.
At least some of the people who were among the biggest names who pooh-poohed the idea of vaccinations seem to have come around. That’s a step in the right direction, and although we may be past our first step in the journey of a thousand miles, we’re a long way from the finish line.
Republican governors may refuse to impose mask mandates, but they can’t step you from wearing masks yourself.
“Hiyo, Silver …”