For the safety of all

Remember when the first airline prohibited smoking? And some people said they would just fly another airline? And then all airlines prohibited smoking and started kicking people off the planes that did?

We all learned to live with the rule and, in time, came to appreciate it.

How about when the first restaurants started smoking-only areas? And then eventually stopped allowing smoking altogether? People said they would just eat somewhere else so they could smoke. Eventually only a small number of restaurants would allow smoking and they had to restrict their clientele to over 18 only.

Now we accept a nice smokefree restaurant and enjoy our food. Smokers wait until later to contaminate their lungs and those around them.

Or — how about when the first businesses started making their offices smoke-free? At first there was pushback by employees. Some even quit their jobs. Now we accept the fact that not smoking in groups of non-smokers all day protects them from secondhand smoke and cancer. Smokers take their smoke breaks in remote areas of the parking lot, if there is a designated smoking area at all.

Unfortunately, this change in our culture with smoking took decades. We do not have the time to screw around with all the non-mask-wearing people who insist on endangering the rest of the public.

If the government can mandate and enforce seat belts, non-smoking, speed limits, workplace safety regulations, and many other parts of our life, not wearing masks in public during a pandemic should not be considered an inalienable right. BOYD WARD

Mayflower