Previous post
Can 2020 end already? Not only has COVID-19 throughly bungled American life, now we have mask wars breaking out. And the dust-ups aren’t pretty; in fact, they’re quite embarrassing.
Take for example, a June 16 skirmish which occurred in Mattewa, a suburb north of Chicago. The site of the battle, a Costco. There a man took off his mask as he was leaving the store, but that was a mortal sin in the eyes of a Chicago schoolteacher.
Elizabeth Mach saw the man remove his mask and then rammed his cart with hers, ordering him to put it back on. He ignored her. That’s when her trigger setting cranked up to 11.
Mach screamed at him, “I am a schoolteacher and I have COVID-19!” then took off her own mask and spit at him. Police arrested her on Wednesday, but Mach denied everything. Yes, she did tell the man to don his mask, but all the other aggressions? Never happened, she insisted. She’s a “proud” Chicago schoolteacher who knows how serious it is to spit and to claim to have COVID-19. Why, she would never do such a thing!
Except for one little problem: deputies say they have it all on video. Who you gonna believe — the proud Chicago schoolteacher or that lyin’ camera?
Mach now faces battery and disorderly conduct charges. She already has a lawyer, of course.
Another recent clash in the Mask Wars also occurred near Chicago, this one at a Home Depot in McHenry, which is northwest of Chicago. This dustup is mind-boggling in its utter stupidity.
One woman took off her mask to tattle complain to an employee about people who weren’t wearing masks. Then, another woman told the first woman to put her mask back on.
Are you following me? Good. Now, throw in a dollop of raaacist! accusations on the part of Woman #2 towards Woman #1, and . . . cat fight!
Yeah, a pox on both their houses.
And then there’s Johnson County, KS, where Midwest Nice seems to have taken a back seat in the Mask Wars. The District Attorney of the county, which is part of the Kansas City metro, has received about 170 complaints from ninnies who have reported violators. Most of the complaints involve ratting out businesses that are not strictly enforcing mask rules. What is it about face masks that draws out the inner third grader in some adults?
Credit: giphy.com.
On the other hand, there was “Florida Man” at a Fort Myers Costco (what is it about Costco?) who went into a rage when an elderly woman asked him to put on a mask. Costco, by the way, has required face masks for some weeks now as part of store policy.
Florida man at Fort Myers Costco in "Running the World Since 1776" shirt flips out on elderly woman who asked him to wear a mask and man who defended her #BecauseFlorida (via @profjaffar) pic.twitter.com/PDOvi33qHK
— Billy Corben (@BillyCorben) July 7, 2020
That man has just lost his job as a result of his meltdown. Ted Todd Insurance, the man’s former employer, issued this statement:
“Their behavior in the video is in direct conflict with our company values and their employment has been terminated. Threatening behavior and intimidation go against our core mission to be trusted advisors in our community.”
Well, good on the insurance company for sacking that moron. I’d also like to see that Chicago schoolteacher lose her job, too, but I’m sure her teachers union will make certain that she stays employed.
We’re all going bonkers over the face mask issue. First we’re told they don’t make any difference, then we’re told they do. Then we get outside contrarians who tell us they don’t work and others who go so far as to tell us we should even wear them in our own homes. Yes, really!
No wonder we’re all going crazy with this. No wonder Mask Wars are breaking out everywhere.
I’m no medical researcher, so I don’t really know if they’re effective or not. And no, I’m not about to take advice from Dr. Google or self-appointed Facebook experts, either. But I also seethe at governors and officials who wield their power like Roman emperors, issuing edicts with a stroke of a pen. Such is our current zeitgeist.
Can we just try these simple things? How about we respect the choice of our fellow Americans to mask or not mask? If you support mask-wearing in public, and you see someone who isn’t wearing one, just ignore it. Keep away if they bother you that much. Don’t be that tattle-tale. And stop the self-righteous crap, too: I recently saw an elderly woman wear a mask which read, in all caps: IF YOU CAN READ THIS YOU’RE TOO CLOSE. Passive-aggressive, much?
On the other hand, if you boldly go out in public without a mask on, please stop deriding mask-wearers as “sheep.” If you don’t know their health history, or what illnesses their friends or family may be suffering from, then also just ignore it. Stop posting snarky comments at Facebook; that’s also passive-aggressive.
In short, just mind your own business. What a concept!
Featured image: Alec Couros/flickr/cropped/CC BY NC-SA 2.0.
Steveeas says: Well said.
Unless you are PROPERLY wearing a N95 mask – and PROPER eye protection – you are not protecting yourself from infection by any disease that enters through your mucous membranes (mouth, nose, or eyes).
If you are symptomatic of ANY respiratory illness, you should NOT be running around loose – whatever you are wearing.
The ONLY thing that a mask can do is protect others from a respiratory disease that you are carrying and are asymptomatic. Which they will not acquire so long as they stay THREE feet away from a normally breathing person. Aerial droplets from a cough will travel six feet – from a sneeze can travel more than TWELVE feet. Any mouth and nose covering will stop that – assuming the person wasn’t taught by Mommy to COVER their coughs and sneezes at all times.
Oh, and widespread masking only INCREASES the viral load on surfaces, as the vast majority of masked people are always touching their mask – and transferring the nicely concentrated virus onto anything they touch. Wash your hands! Wash your produce, and cook whatever can be cooked thoroughly. (For uncooked leafy vegetables, I wash it thoroughly – and then discard the outer leaves that other people have been touching. Standard practice to avoid food poisoning, what with farm labor these days.)
Dan P says: SN95 masks with the exhalation valve only filter on inhalation. If you are asymptomatic or infected, you might as well not be wearing one of these masks.
Sam says: You face diaper dopes ARE sheep. Snarky comments on FB are a REACTION and you should be damned glad sane people are merely b!tching on social media and not doing any actual resisting.
It’s now punishable by $1000 fine to exist without a mask on in my city. Yes, that includes being outside and by yourself. People who actually understand the concept of liberty HAVE LOST. “Live and let live” was OUR position, and it HAS LOST – yet again – to those who wish to use government to enforce their preferences.
You want us to mind our own business? Maybe start by minding yours and stop punishing people with the police state at your d*mned whim. No? Still want to pretend to care about freedom so long as it comports to your frail sensibilities? Well then I welcome more shootings over this inanity.
Kim Hirsch says: That you, Florida Man?
You might reread my post again there, bucko. Where did you miss my criticism of people who start altercations over face masks, or who tattle on those who won’t wear them — complete with a cool Southpark gif? Where did you miss my criticism of “governors and officials who wield their power like Roman emperors, issuing edicts with a stroke of a pen?” Pretty good analogy, right?
But no, you got triggered by the word “sheep,” and railed at me to “stop punishing people with the police state at your d*amned whim.” Please tell me where I endorsed such a thing. I’ll wait.
Finally, you concluded your rant with this gem:
Well then I welcome more shootings over this inanity.
Really, dude? Do you ever listen to yourself?
Calm down, snowflake, and learn to read for comprehension.
Sam says: First 3 words of the post were “You face diaper dopes”
If that means “Kim Hirsch” then fine, it’s addressed to you, though as you pointed out you don’t hold those positions. Otherwise perhaps don’t start throwing stones on reading comprehension.
And WHOOSH on the point, bucko, which is this “debate” isn’t a conversation, dialogue, scientific inquiry, suggestion, or even desperate pleading. It is the rule of law, the very concept of individual liberty and how it relates to government policy is what is being battled over and the authoritarians are winning. The mask has, for better or worse, become a symbol of acquiescence to this growing menace, so people shooting each other is an extension of the civil war we’re engaged in. Unfortunately killing over the stupid things – whether to uphold your liberty or a karen-on-karen fight – will be the only thing that focuses people on the real issue with the mask.
So pick a side, snowflake, and learn to read for comprehension.
RedneckSmartass says: LOL. Actually, I’m pretty sure the first 3 words of the post are “You face diaper”.
8 Comments