We are beginning to relax a little bit, all of us.
The disease has ebbed down to a trickle—no deaths, a handful of cases.
We’ve reached a level of herd immunity that makes us all breathe a little bit better. Most of us have been vaccinated or have had Covid and recovered and are in no danger of giving or getting the disease. The elderly who would be most affected by Covid—anyone who wanted the shot—have all had the ability to get it by now.
And the disease itself, though awful for some, did not increase the overall death rate and was not as lethal as the flu. It also affected primarily the elderly (the majority of those in nursing homes), and for the most part, did not affect the young at all.
In addition, Covid has always had a 99.97% recovery rate.
And then there is the effectiveness of the mask itself. Even Fauci in earlier days not only stated that masks were not all that effective, but said that many who died during the Spanish flu did so because of bacterial infections caused by masks. Masks pose definite health risks. And the advantages are mostly speculative—it’s POSSIBLE that they might help if someone sneezes or coughs. But that is not scientific. Scientifically, the mask, (especially the non-medical grade mask), has not been proven to be effective in preventing transmission to others or in protecting the wearer (see aier.com on masks).
And we are so far past 15 days to slow the spread that it is ridiculous. The goalpost has been moved so many times that we are beginning to become skeptical of pretty much everything the “experts” tell us.
So for many reasons, Covid is waning. We all want it to be a distant memory as soon as possible. Well, not all of us, but I’ll get to that later. We are hoping that the lockdowns, the isolations and the masks are behind us. It is beginning to look that way in most states.
In fact, the mask mandate has been lifted in my state, although some have been a bit afraid to take their masks off — not so much because they really think that they will give or get Covid, but because they don’t want to be different. They don’t want to be hassled in a grocery store. They want to go in and shop unnoticed, anonymous, a part of the crowd. They want to be invisible to others, not stand out. They look around to see if anyone is wearing the mask and then will follow the same path.
I get that. I have felt the same way too. It is only recently that I felt that kindness meant NOT wearing the mask in public. I used to think that if it made people feel better, that it was kindest to just wear the mask for them. But I am now realizing that it is kinder not to wear it.
But the hardest part of walking into a store maskless was the idea that I might stand out. I might get hassled. I might get disapproval. I had no qualms about the disease, only about being different, standing out among the crowd. I just wanted to do my shopping and leave without anybody noticing.
So it was — at first, at least—with butterflies in my stomach and wobbly knees that I walked in to establishments completely maskless.
And wonderful things started happening. There are many who hate the masks, including the people who work at the stores. When they see me maskless, they feel like they get to pull their masks down too—at least under their nose so they can breathe. Other patrons take theirs off or don’t put theirs on. When I walk in without a mask, other people realize that they can do the same. It makes people feel as if they are not alone and won’t be hassled if someone else is also mask free.
I am never rude. I go out of my way to be nice to store personnel and out of my way to try to be friendly. But I think it’s important to have the courage to be different right now — to live thoughtfully and deliberately. And to inspire others to do the same.
Does it make sense anymore?
Do you really believe that you will give or get Covid if you don’t wear the mask?
If not, why are you wearing it?
When will you stop wearing it?
Will you ever stop wearing it? What would have to happen before you did?
If not now, when?
It’s important for us to take a stand now. To be brave now. To dare to be different.
Because if not now, we will be wearing masks and possibly locked down forever. Really.
Something is coming that will ensure the easy transition from temporary mask to permanent mask.
Perhaps even the permanent mask that will tell on you to your elitist betters when you neglect to put it on, or wear it incorrectly, or wear it dirty or are a wimp who has to take breaths of fresh air because the mask has built up too much CO2 inside of it. (See the WEF promo for it.)
Most of us want this nightmare to be over. But not all of us. Some have looked at Covid as a golden opportunity. These people have had an unprecedented taste of power and they are hungry for more—they are not going to let it go without a fight.
Fear is a great manipulator. And the next wave of fear is going to come along to try to lock us down again, to make a seamless transition from temporary to permanently masked, from formerly free to fully controlled. You can count on it.
How will you react this time?
Stay tuned…….