As a high risk member of our community, I have just started venturing outside of our home. It’s a risky thing. I use a mask to protect those I come in contact with (along with social-distancing, just in case I am an asymptomatic carrier) because whether you believe it or not, it is still being spread.
But I will be mindful of places where people are not wearing masks to protect me. I will not go there a second time until guidelines suggest I no longer need to be protected from you.
You want to resume a somewhat normal life, but you need to understand, we do as well. It’s not about politics. It’s about not spreading a virus that has the power to kill. When you choose not to wear a mask, you are not saying “I am not afraid of this virus!”, you are in fact saying “It does not matter to me if I give it to you”. If you feel that way, whether I want to be or not, I cannot be in your presence. That infringes on my rights. You are protecting me, not just yourself.
Please, we want to resume grocery shopping, going to the laundromat, and worshiping at church. If too many of you are not wearing masks, we are more at risk than we should be and then we have to stay home and that’s not fair, especially if we really need to go.
Ask yourself, if you needed surgery right now, would you be comfortable with those in the operating room NOT wearing masks? Please stop and think about it and do what you know is right.
Compassion not contempt
The Social-Commentary.Com 