The COVID pandemic has been wrought with death and economic destruction. It has been a horrifyingly huge challenge for over two years. However, there have also been a number of unintended and highly unnecessary consequences of blundered policy decisions.
One of the most contentious questions surrounding the pandemic has involved masks. There have been endless debates, in which it is argued that masks have at best minimal benefit in preventing spread. However, forcing people to wear a mask became a weapon for compliance.
Bureaucrats saw a way to exercise power and control over the public. Businesses were ordered to refuse entrance to “non-masked” customers. Airlines, despite an airplane cabin being one of the cleanest air spaces, forced passengers to “mask up”.
Children, despite a minimal chance of viral spread, were forced to wear a mask for hours on end. Even the so-called “expert” on epidemiology, Lord Anthony Fauci, started out by insisting that masks were unnecessary. Fauci has changed his own mask guidance multiple times.
The most visible healthcare professional throughout the pandemic has flip-flopped on mask guidance for over two years. Understandably, normal people are confused. A constantly shifting narrative, plus a refusal to acknowledge contrary opinions, created mass mask confusion.
It’s also created “mask wars”. People have “mask shamed” others, with no regard for why a person may be reluctant to wear one. The public has been made to feel so afraid of COVID that many will wear a mask when no one is within hundreds of yards of them.
The confusion and inability to be honest about masks has divided the country. There are two camps of thought, it appears. Common ground is virtually impossible. People are either masked-up, probably in their sleep, or no way, “you’re not going to tell me how to live”.
Evil stares and smart aleck comments are mild compared to some “COVID mask battles”. One woman attacked an elderly man on an airplane for having his mask down to eat. Another woman chased non-masked customers around a store, chastising them for being “Trump supporters”.
One common battleground for the “mask wars” has understandably been school board meetings. One recent example exemplifies the insanity of how incensed people have become over mask wearing.
The bitter exchange happened at a Glenbrook High School District 225 Board of Education in suburban Chicago. One person in attendance did not have a mask on. He insisted that he had a medical exemption.
However, one radical board member didn’t care. The board member, Joe Taub, who represents the towns of Northbrook and Glenview, snapped at the man while he tried to speak. “Are you gonna let him speak without a mask?”
The moderator in charge of the meeting insisted, “Well, he’s got a medical exemption.” The man’s name on record was Mark. Logically, Mark became frustrated when he tried to speak. “Now he’s interrupting me. I mean, you guys are rude. Do I get to speak or not? Do I get to speak?” Mark questioned.
The patient, but obviously frustrated man, kept pointing out the time limit he was under to voice his opinions. Mark asked if he could “restart the clock.” The moderator allowed him to do so. However, that didn’t ease the tension.
The moderator insisted that Mark put on a mask, despite his insistence that he had a bonafide medical exemption. He also didn’t feel he was required to expose the reason he had such. In fact, that is his right.
However, the moderator pressed him to put on a mask anyhow. Marks’ frustration became glaringly obvious. He asked the moderator, pointing toward Taub, the person who instigated the whole issue, “Who’s this? Are you the mask police? Can I speak or not?”
Mark continued to plead his case. “I have a mask. I can wear the mask on my head if you want,” he argued. Then Joe Taub showed his true “Nazi police colors.” Taub screamed, “You can wear your mask on your f***ing balls. If you don’t wear the f****** mask, you get the f*** out of here!”
Presumably, thinking he was staring down a full-blown fisticuffs war, the moderator called for the equivalent of “fighters go to a neutral corner”. The moderator asserted, “Enough. Enough. We’re going to take recess for five minutes.”
This is just one of probably thousands of unnecessary arguments and fights over wearing a mask. It was a senseless policy to begin with. Masks have done little to nothing to prevent the spread of COVID-19. However, they have done one thing.
Masks have given stubborn and argumentative people something to complain about. Given the chance, you can guarantee they will. In the meantime, as the pandemic wanes, those who find humor in all the mask wars could do something lighthearted. They could wear a mask like a g-string.
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