…why we are wearing masks.
I am sitting at home this morning, listening to the news and this segment comes on where Trump is in the Oval Office with a bunch of people, only one of them wearing a mask, a woman who appears to be pregnant.
Trump is on the phone with a foreign leader and starts talking about a reporter who is off camera. The reporter is apparently wearing a face mask, which is very appropriate under the circumstances, a closed room with a relatively large group of people.
Trump, making fun of anyone wearing a face mask, should be told the following:
“Dear Mr “Shit-For-Brains” Trump, I am not wearing this face mask to protect myself from you, I am wearing this face mask to protect morons like you from me.” “By wearing this face mask I am reducing the amount of possibly harmful things I may I exhale from getting into the air, so when you inhale, the chances of you catching some kind of disease from me are reduced.”
“If you would like to test how immune you really are after having had Covid-19, I don’t mind taking my mask off to breathe on you a little.”
So, to quote Dirty Harry Callahan, “You’ve Got To Ask Yourself One Question: ‘Do I Feel Lucky?”
With the number of infections having risen to the highest level since the Pandemic started, we need to ask ourselves why this is the case. I am thinking it is because we are impatient and are trying to normalize things too early, all without taking proper precautions. At the least, there should be a national mask mandate! You are out in public, wear a mask! When you go for a walk, wear a mask! You exercise, wear a mask! Wear a mask whenever you leave your personal safe zones!
You do not like wearing a mask because it is too hot, you can’t breathe easily, it does not look good, it infringes on your personal freedoms. Well, get over yourself and stop whining because without a mask you take a big chance of spreading Covid-19, feeding the Pandemic and extending the amount of time that it is in our lives.
Why are we so impatient to “live our lives” now when really all we are doing is taking a chance at shortening our life and the lives of those around us? If we are patient and wear masks to slow the spread, social distance, stay away from large gatherings and in general are as careful we can be, we will be able to go back to our lives sooner than we will if we continue doing what we are doing now. It is called delayed gratification!
We are in a war against an invisible enemy that may be anywhere and everywhere. We need to stick together by staying apart in order to fight this enemy. A war is won one battle at a time, and it takes time and patience. Previous generations went through “The Great War” which in the counting turned into WW1 when Hitler started World War 2. Those wars lasted for years and people had to endure hardships of all kinds, their normal lives were put on hold. I am sure they did not like it but they didn’t whine and complain, the toughed it out, endured and emerged victoriously. All we have to as as a nation is wear a mask, stay apart, be careful about the activities we engage in, wash our hands and whatever else we personally can do to protect ourselves and others. Are we really this soft and weak?
Many of us are suffering economically due to the Pandemic. We need to help each other as a community and a nation. For example, now is not the time to evict people from their homes. We need to make sure that people have a roof over their heads, a bed to sleep in, food for their families, financial support, health care, etc., support that happens in a social society. In times of crisis, the strong need to support the weak, the “haves” need to support the “have-nots.”
With the lack of national leadership, we all can personally do our own bit to make things safer around us. I don’t need anyone to tell me that I have to wear a mask in public, I can do that on my own. I can decide to stay at home and “lock down” on my own, avoiding superfluous contact with other people.
A few months ago I have heard a hypothetical scenario on eradicating the virus from the world: If every person on earth stays away from people that we do not live with, for one month, the virus will be exterminated because it can not spread to new victims.
This would mean that my son, my wife and I would stay in our house for 30 days, without physical contact to anyone else, my daughter would stay with her fiancé in their apartment, every person in the world would stay in their castle, house, tent, camper, cave or whatever they live in, by themselves or with their close family. This would require a lot of patience, but considering that we now are in the 8th month of the pandemic, it does not seem so bad.
However, this is only a thought experiment and I doubt that the human race could be that disciplined.
Be Safe Everyone!
