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I’m Done Complying with COVID Restrictions
I had a change of heart today, and a change of mind. I reached a resolution this afternoon and a tentative plan.
I’m not going to comply with this COVID nonsense anymore. I’m not going to wear a mask, not anywhere. If I’m asked to wear a mask, I’m going to respectfully decline. If I’m asked to leave, I’m going to say that I’ll leave when my business is finished. If someone presses the issue, I’ll tell them to go ahead and call the cops.
I will probably have to make an exception if I have to go to Court. As an officer of the Court, I think that I will need to obey the instructions of a sitting judge, but I haven’t been to court in over a year.
My two daughters are in a singing and dancing group, and looking forward to their annual recital in about a month. It was cancelled last year, unnecessarily, due to COVID. This morning, my wife told me that the studio management was planning to make the girls wear N95 masks as they performed. I think that this was the final straw for me. I posted an objection on the group’s Facebook page.
I walked out of my church service on Sunday, after a couple of worship songs, singing through an unnecessary mask, again. The theme of the service was to celebrate teachers for their work through this past challenging year. I couldn’t take it. The teachers, and their unions, are among the most strident advocates of this hysterical hypochondria.
I have previously been critical of posts and comments praising people who refused to comply with COVID regulations and requirements. If I remember correctly, I have even used the term “scofflaw.” I am a strong proponent of the law, but I have decided that I’ve had enough. I am going to scoff at these ridiculous laws. I will take my punishment, if any comes my way.
For the record, I came to this decision after work today, while driving to Bible study, and before Doug Kimball’s fine post reporting his own civil disobedience. Count me in, Doug. Like Doug, I am now fully vaccinated, receiving my second dose earlier today.
Coronaphobia delenda est.
Published in Healthcare
Wait, what? Teachers have been WORKING this past year? I thought one of the big problems was that they COULDN’T, and/or WOULDN’T, for one reason or another. Usually at their unions’ insistence. Apparently including, in at least one place, a requirement that police be defunded first.
I can’t say it’s a final straw for me, but one of the most ridiculous and annoying things is the gratuitous wearing of masks for news photos and PR photos, in situations where it isn’t at all clear that a mask is warranted. Surely the news people could dig up a photo of the person without a mask for use in the news. There are situations where the subject is pictured in a large gathering where the mask might be warranted, but surely it’s not needed for some context-free head shot.
Good for you, Jerry. Very niiice.
Recently Biden came out and couldn’t find his mask. Jill had to find it for him. This means that he didn’t have it on backstage either, and that means none of them had them on either and didn’t notice him not put it on because they were fumbling with their own.
That means it’s all for show.
I walked into Sam’s Club today without a mask for the first time. I had simply forgotten it. I felt half-naked, and went out to get one. Anyone who wants a vaccine can get one with little trouble at this point. My Mom got her’s in January, me in February, one staff person in March and one in April. I don’t wear a mask at work, and wear it into the Courthouse as required by our Presiding Judge. But the day is quick coming for the end of mask wearing.
Good for you.
Well done. Courage is contagious.
Yeah. I hate wearing shoes. I’m going to go shopping without my shoes, and put my dirty feet on the table when I go to the restaurant. If they ask me to leave I will refuse.
I suggest video from both you and Jerry, posted online where we can compare and award points.
Wear a mask it you are afraid, if you are normal then don’t. That should have always been the “rule”.
Bad rule. A better rule: Wear a mask if you are afraid of infecting others. If you don’t care or have information showing the risk is really, really low in your situation, then don’t.
Not bad. I’d prefer the rule to wear it when some useful reduction in the probability of transmission seems likely. Indoor crowded spaces. Packed commuter rail cars especially.
But not sunlit open-air and non-crowded spaces.
Anywhere in between, personal discretion ain’t a bad rule.
I live in a tourist area that has a permanent sign on just about every door: Shirts and shoes required. Last year the proprietors simply penciled in “and masks.” :-)
And if I don’t wear my yellow star or have my “papers” in order what will the State do to me?
Who cares?
Good for you!
I hate having to wear a mask, and I hate looking at people wearing masks. I don’t go places I don’t have to because of masking requirements.
I was at coffee shop in LA with my daughter waiting for service outside. The server asked me to put my mask on. I said , “they don’t work”. We left. Other people stood around in their masks afraid to look directly at me.
I was in a music store asking for the price of violin strings. My mask didn’t cover my nose. As the clerk told me $50 she asked me to adjust my mask. I said ok and left. I told her I could just get the strings online.
Much cheaper anyway. Bu bye!
These are minor but they add up. Good luck with your bold response. Please tell us stories!
I’m still wearing a mask indoors when it is required.
However, I plan to have some masks made with the message, “There is no SCIENTIFIC reason for me to be wearing this”.
I agree that it’s all for show, but I’m not seeing how any of your three conclusions follow from the fact that he couldn’t find his mask.
He couldn’t find it because he wasn’t wearing it. He wasn’t wearing it because no one was wearing one.
If he were the only one backstage without a mask on, and if this was out of the ordinary, at least one or two of the half dozen masked people standing with him would have been focusing on him and would have been concerned about the breach in health safety, and would have reminded him before he came out.
But as it was, they all were used to seeing bare faces and therefore no one noticed when he came out unmasked.
We are designed and conceived to deal with air borne pathogens without filtration except for brief periods of high concentration of infectious or toxic materials.
I am at a week long conference. I am happy to say half the people have just flat given up. We have green, yellow and red “comfort dots” for people to say what their comfort levels are for name badges. Almsot all are green.
Funny, I’m almost there too. This Saturday marks two weeks from my second shot. I’ve stopped outside masking altogether. I do observe it for indoor businesses, as I don’t want to get them in trouble. Same with at mass, in deference to my bishop, although our bishop requires us to provide our name and phone number for contract tracing, even though we’re all at least six feet apart and masked. I’m told the contract tracing is not a state requirement but one the US Catholic Bishops Conference agreed to. Not sure why he has to go along with that. I recognized the need for it back when hospitals were at the breaking point, but now as we’re approaching the danger zone associated with a typical flu season, and the most vulnerable have had their jabs, it’s time to reassess and let go of unnecessary masking.
I’ve been curious (but not curious enough to do the research), have many/most of the teacher who refuse to work until all of their demands are met, under the pretense of Covid, continued to receive their salaries?
Pretty much. All the benefits of a strike without the downsides.
I wear a mask indoors where posted, as a courtesy to the employees. Just to eliminate the hassle to them of their having to request that I “mask up.” I can express my independence in other ways.
Give it two more weeks.
I did the same thing to a beer store in the fall. I was stocking up my cellar and the guy behind the counter told me how important it was that I was staying home and drinking instead of going out to bars. I told him that I still drink at bars and was planning on drinking some of these beers with other people, like a normal human being. I told him that I changed my mind and would not be making a purchase that day, and any day thereafter. I haven’t been back since.
I’ve never done outdoor masking (except once by accident) but have been fairly scrupulous about wearing a mask in places where it’s required. Maybe outdoor masking would make a little sense in some crowded urban pedestrian spaces, but even there I’m not so sure. Maybe it would depend on just how crowded it is and the wind conditions, etc. I don’t live in such a place, so the idea of wearing a mask outdoors seems strange to me.
None of the staff at our local hardware store has ever worn a mask, and a few times I’ve forgotten mine, for which my wife gives me a hard time. Well, I’ve been there when most of the customers have worn masks, but I usually go when there aren’t a lot of customers, and I don’t linger. At other stores I follow the rules, which are half-heartedly followed by the staff, and followed more carefully by some though not all of the customers. At the big box stores everybody is masked, if you can call it that considering the way people wear them.
Now that everyone in our house is vaccinated, I worry a lot less about it, period.
Some people at our church refuse to wear masks. It was a matter of some concern to my wife and me before we all got vaccinated, as we are in a hot coronavirus area in our county, which is a hot spot in Michigan, which is a hot spot among the states. So we didn’t go to Sunday services for a long time, instead going to a weekday evening service. (A neighboring church to ours apparently is frequented by a lot more mask skeptics than ours, and was the source of a big covid-19 outbreak at the beginning of the latest surge, which is well along on a downward trend now.) But now nearly all the oldsters in our church have been vaccinated, so I don’t worry about it, though my wife does. I wear a mask for the benefit of other. I enjoy visiting with others over cookies and coffee after services. Nobody wears masks for that, which in a way is kind of backwards because we’re packed into a smaller space with less ventilation. But at this point in the pandemic I can’t get too worked up over it. My wife usually skips that part for now.
I went to the March county Republican meeting and walked out before it started, as it was a very crowded venue due to the topic (Second Amendment Sanctuaries). I don’t even know what the legal requirements are now, but I’d say less than 5 percent of the people were wearing masks. About that time the county Republicans in a neighboring county had a meeting at a restaurant, which resulted in a small outbreak of covid. I don’t know if anyone got seriously sick from it. I did attend the April meeting, which was well attended, but not crowded enough to make me want to leave. The chairperson was not in attendance, as she was sick with covid. One woman present, one of those who wore a mask at the previous meeting, had a mask but took it off.
In general, people are more relaxed about it now. When the recent surge was on the upward trend I thought I detected a lot more mask wearing in public. It seems there isn’t as much now. I’ve never seen one person harass another about it one way or the other, but I suppose it happens.
There are some people in our country who have very bad intentions for controlling us. The Biden administration seems to have attracted these types. But maybe because the compliance with existing regulations is so loose around here, I don’t get as worked up about the restrictions on personal behavior as some people do.
One thing that is of great concern to me, though, is the way the ruling class has driven a lot of small businesses into bankruptcy, and is using the pandemic to make the rich richer and the poor and middle class poorer. You can see what is going on through the effects on the home renovation and construction industry. I sometimes watch the Home Renovision DIY channel on YouTube, which has recently had several episodes about what has happened with the price of building materials. The person who does this channel is a small-time contractor in Ottawa, and he refers to the government people as a separate class, though he is too good-natured to linger on the topic. The pandemic is far from the only factor, but many ruling class incomes (my term, not his) have not been affected by the pandemic. Since these people couldn’t travel or do other such activities, they used their money to do home renovation projects or building projects, which has created a huge demand for materials at the same time when ruling-class government policies, by keeping people away from their jobs, have helped lead to a reduction in supply, leaving these ruling-class people as the only ones who can afford to do major projects involving wood or plastic. Their cavalier attitude toward the disastrous effects of their policies on ordinary people is a huge problem that is going to have long-term effects. I wish people would concentrate on that more than on masks.
I think you and a lot of people are there. For my part, I am with you. And I’m going to start following suit.
I am impressed by the original post and all the subsequent comments. It has occurred to me, and no doubt many others here, that if the former President Trump became an overzealous advocate for masking for about 2-4 weeks, wouldn’t the critical core of the mask cult’s spine be broken? At that point wouldn’t they have to say there’s no more need to mask?? I know it is foolish to expect that type of message discipline from 45, but I have little doubt that noble misdirection would break the fever of mask theatrics.