BTW, Q-M2 people are those who Question Mandatory Masks.
First, some assumptions:
- Some of the PMMs work in high-risk fields - Medical/Nursing, Heavy Public Contact, Teaching (those germy little buggers are EVERYWHERE), etc. They wouldn't be human if they weren't concerned, and anxious to reduce their vulnerability.
- Some of the PMMs are in positions where failure to be Pro-Mandatory could cause them to lose their job or risk lawsuits. Really can't argue with looking after your own self.
- Some of the PMMs are anxious to put distance between themselves and famous non-maskers - Trump, for example. They fear that reliance on the actual science involved might put them in jeopardy of being lumped in with Bad Orange Man.
- Some are Karens - those people who yearn to be able to lay down rules for others, particularly when they can claim the high ground. In this case, THEY CARE ABOUT PEOPLE - you are a HEARTLESS KILLER!
- Some are just Drama Queens - not something new, there have always been whose primary way of dealing with the world is to over-dramatize their part in it.
- And, some are just going along with the crowd. Because going along is the easiest thing to do.
Now, the whole issue - to mask or not - is not that simple. It can be divided into:
- Masking around sick people - most, if not all, people would agree with that.
- Masking in crowded situations - most would say "OK" to that.
- Masking outside - there are those who do, but most people can't wait to exit a store or building, as eager to take off the mask as a woman is to shed that push-up bra upon closing the door to her house.And, despite the meme stating that government mandates bras, wearing them is optional (although, if the females do, Thank You!).
- And, MANDATORY masking, a government-imposed requirement, with penalties that may include fines, arrest, and even imprisonment.
That last is what is causing MOST of the problem with me.
Most people will wear masks when necessary. Cases like that celebrity who held a big mask-less party, then toddled off to visit his elderly relative - well, those are rare. Most of us, when it involves close contact with actual sick or immuno-compromised people, will sigh, pull on the covering, and comply with their demands.
Even though it's been recently proven that those without symptoms are generally NOT contagious.
But, others are scared. So...easier to go along - in the short term, for limited times.
What some have a problem with is keeping the mask on for extended periods of time. Yeah, yeah, I know it's the norm in operating rooms.
But, when the doctors and nurses leave, the first thing they do is to take off the mask.
What happens when you can NEVER take off the mask, all day, every day. Even on breaks. Even at lunch. Even when the mask makes it very hard for the hearing impaired to understand you. It's worse in many large offices, where the fad for Open Offices has made distancing yourself just not possible. Worse, Shared Co-Spaces are common in many businesses in the New Economy.
What happens when the police tell you to put on a mask? Even hand you a mask.
And, you still refuse?
Will they wrestle you into the back of the police car?
Will they do it if you're Black? If there is a crowd that is yelling "Police Brutality"?
Or, will all of this just affect the White part of the population?
What about the crazy homeless? Will they be arrested?
Or, just the sane ones?
What if citizens take this into their own hands, and attack the mask-less? Will they face jail time? Or, will their actions be excused, because the mask-less person was CLEARLY trying to kill them?
The ZMan has some important things to say about the prevalence of contagion for most of us. I'd suggest you read it, soon.
Me? I'm busy; I have to complete Medicare Annual Re-certification this week, followed by other work-related stuff, working on Science Lessons with my husband, and - perhaps most important - set up my new laptop, scheduled to be delivered on this Thursday.
So, too busy to spend much more time on this topic for a while. Or, to bother with most Social Media.
"What happens when you can NEVER take off the mask, all day, every day."
ReplyDeleteMass noncompliance, possibly followed by war if the ruling thugs don't get the message. Some people, you can only push so far.
Excellent article by Michelle Malkin:
ReplyDeletehttps://vdare.com/articles/michelle-malkin-one-nation-under-anarcho-tyranny
In Category A-2 (failure to be pro-mandatory could cause loss of job or lawsuits) here: I manage a neighborhood with a pool and fitness room, both of which are extremely popular amenities which are not cleaned between each use. Fitness room is tiny so we can't open it (would have to be one at a time, and no way to police that to make sure it's working that way).
ReplyDeleteOTOH, the pool is high capacity and outdoors, but people are flouting the mask requirements sometimes, and we have to send them back home to get their masks because the Association is potentially liable for fines and penalties if people aren't following the rules.
Now, I keep up on the news, and from what I understand, being outside in the sunlight and fresh air we should be mostly safe from transmission, but I'm not the CDC or an attorney, so I don't get to make that call. Indoors breathing hard running on treadmills 2-3 feet apart, not so much. People still bitch about the restrictions on both. Most do not appear to be afraid of the bug.
Personally I wish we could just slap a disclaimer on things and let people do ridiculous, stupidly dangerous things (like living in Baltimore or Chicago) and get themselves killed if that's what they want. I'd also be in favor of allowing multi-unit housing neighbors to settle disputes by public dueling, would really keep the noise complaints down...
Oh, I like that dueling suggestion! We could use the money from streaming it on pay-per-view to pay off the debt for the housing.
ReplyDeleteLOL glad you liked that idea, Linda - I think we could use it to greatly cut down on people being killed by stray bullets in inner cities, too. Just set up tall dueling lanes with sandbagged walls, with a bulletproof drop-partition in the middle and a buzzer.
ReplyDeleteBuzzer goes off, partition drops, and welcome to Thunderdome: two men enter, one man leaves! If it doesn't count as "murder", then our official murder rate would go down, too. Schedule 'em on a particular evening every week "Shootout Saturdays" and yes, mount cameras on the walls and stream it on pay-per-view to pay the costs of maintaining and cleaning the dueling lanes!
My only real question would be: who would we get to be the announcers on that show?!?