The showdown between masked and unmasked

There’s a detail in many New York photos taken after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks that were easy to miss all these years, but are now impossible to overlook. Many people fleeing the scene somehow found masks, medical and makeshift, to shield themselves from the noxious dust and debris that filled the air as well as unprotected lungs. The survival instinct was to cover the nose and mouth.

Firefighters arriving at the scene pulled masks from their stock equipment as well. As recovery efforts continued in the months ahead, the toxic substances would slowly add even more lives to the grim tally of nearly 3,000 lost in the terrorist attacks that day.

So why are we fighting so much over wearing masks to try to halt an even higher death toll in America?

Fatigue has a lot to do with it. People just weren’t built to avoid one another and cover the organs that permit them to breathe. After 18 months of this, wrapping a mask over the nose and mouth still doesn’t seem natural.

Not wearing them, however, isn’t a sign of proud resistance but of surrender.

There are still history lessons to learn from the pandemic of a century ago. “The 1918 Flu” eventually retreated a couple of years later as it apparently ran out of hosts after infecting about onethird of the world’s population.

With no vaccine as a defense, Americans relied on the few preventative measures they had, notably social distancing and masks.

One hundred years later, the nation has become divided not between the haves and havenotes, but between the pragmatists and the contrarians.

Seemingly out of patience with Americans who have declined the invitation to get the free vaccine to fight COVID-19, President Joe Biden has announced sweeping federal mandates for vaccines and testing. In addition to drawing backlash from states that have low turnout for getting the vaccine, this foreshadows the likelihood of an even nastier showdown if similar treatments are approved for children under 12 years of age.

“I am so disappointed that particularly some Republican governors have been so cavalier with the health of these kids, so cavalier with the health of their communities,” Biden said Friday.

The president, of course, was not referring to Connecticut, which has one of the highest vaccine rates in the nation, more than 76 percent of eligible residents.

While Biden scorned governors who threatened lawsuits with the rejoinder, “Have at it,” Gov. Ned Lamont has quietly expressed concerns in Connecticut. Outbreaks were documented in August among groups of unvaccinated (those would be the contrarians) at a summer camp, group home and private party. The state Department of Public Health said the cases also involved inconsistent use of masks.

It’s vital to keep our schools open, and even more important to be strong role models for our youngest citizens. We must not look back at this crisis in 20 years and wonder why we didn’t so the simple things to protect ourselves, and each other.

One hundred years later, the nation has become divided not between the haves and have-notes, but between the pragmatists and the contrarians.