All the Maskless People

Where did they all come from?

I drove around my area today. School is now out. The weather is warmer. I am seeing more and more people out and about.

Most of the people I see wandering around outside are maskless.

I see restaurants are open. I drove by a place with a huge window and could see diners inside without masks. Since I was driving by, I didn’t see how far away the tables were inside. I did see people outside in front eating around lunch time.

I drove by a garden center and saw its parking lot was filled with cars and trucks. Customers were wandering around without masks.

People are wearing masks in the more urbanized areas of my county. We have the second highest number of cases in my state in my county, so I assume people who are more connected to urban areas have more messaging and reasons to wear masks. The death toll and cases are higher in the more densely populated areas.

The difference between going to a Wal-Mart and driving by a local restaurant is striking. No masks at the local place, while most people are wearing masks at the Wal-Mart and social distancing is enforced by markings and employees with counters at the door.

Some places that have reopened are starting to report surges in healthcare usage for COVID-19 patients.

The news from Alabama isn’t promising. Reports from Montgomery say ICU beds are full, so patients are being sent to Birmingham.

The case reporting lags behind about three weeks, according to news reports. We will have to wait and see what happens now that people are moving around, maskless and interacting more than ever.

The Atlantic reports on the risk from indoor air:

The risk of infection indoors is almost 19 times higher than in open-air environments, according to another study from researchers in Japan. …

One asymptomatic person in a restaurant had infected nine others in the direct path of the air conditioner. None of the dozens of other patrons or servers got sick.

The freedom crowd always yells about “sheeple” and “having common sense.” I think they are the ones who are being misled to take risky steps — and to maybe sacrifice themselves for the elites who want to keep the stock markets roaring.

I worry that the common sense solution is to always wear masks in public, avoid close contact with people, and limit time in indoor areas where multiple people gather.

But, people seem to received a message that things are all clear.

The official advice is contradictory and has been all over the place. All these maskless folks make it seem risky if overseas studies indicate being in the path of an infected person in a restaurant can result in a COVID-19 infection.

Do we ignore the national leadership and listen to the doctors who continue to warn people to social distance. One of my personal doctors has advised me to continue to social distance for my personal safety and for that of my ex, my son, and his grandparents. That is my small bubble, except when I say hi and check mail at my apartment building’s office. I try to get in and out quickly since that is a common area.

The place with the highest number of COVID-19 cases is just across the border from where I live. They are still locked down. I know people are driving across the border from their state to visit ours. I see the out-of-state license plates.

I don’t begrudge them. I wish I could go hang out in a bar and talk for a couple of hours (or until the place shuts down and the kick me out). But, I can’t risk it, especially since it seems like others aren’t protecting themselves.

I am not adverse to PPE. I drove a truck where PPE was required. Sometimes there were places where you didn’t want to breath whatever was in the yard where the metal purchasers had their stock piles. Our trucks were scanned for radiation routinely, so that indicates that that was an issue at some point. Who knows what else was out in the scrap yards where metal from all over the place was piled into 50–100 feet high piles.

I just wish other people would look out for us as well. I am wearing an industrial mask (P95 paint mask) because I am medically frail. I don’t want to risk having my lungs fill up with disease. I know what it is like to use a pulse oximeter to make sure I have enough oxygen flowing through my system.

The freedom at any cost crowd is infringing on my rights at life and liberty. Now, I have to protect myself and assume most people are infected until we develop a vaccine or other treatment. I don’t want to risk getting sick because it not only would affect me, but my son’s grandparents, my ex and her nursing home patients.

They aren’t being good libertarians. Freedom should take into account other people’s freedoms. Just because someone can do something does not obviate the need to think about personal responsibility.

Someone might have the right to own and carry an AR-15 around, but that doesn’t give them the right to discharge their weapon unsafely or in a manner that will hurt people.

I do not like that mask wearing has become politicized. It should be a scientific matter, rather than a “hope for a miracle” approach. It isn’t fair to people who are at risk.

I don’t want to think that there is some of that thinking. Maybe some people want to sacrifice the weak in order to preserve their profits, as some politicians have said.

I am going to continue with my doctor’s advice. Limit my social contacts as I have since March when we went into preventative quarantine.

I don’t want to risk getting sick when we don’t have enough information about our risks because of incomplete testing.

I also wish that our government wasn’t failing us. But, it is made up of people and when the motto has been to break government and close it down, we get the results of a damaged system when it comes time to use it.

Because of the above issues, I will assume the virus threat is worse because elite interests have a desire to continue to maximize profits at the expense of workers, consumers and others. I also don’t trust the national leadership since we do not get honest information from the top. I will look out for my best interests and the interests of those around me in my small circle.

I will continue to wear a mask and avoid risky activities.

Chris Hedges, BA, JD, is a photographer and writer. I am also the owner of Unicorn x29 Innovation Platform and Publisher’s Spotlight.