Mask-averse woman defiantly embraces selfishness
I’ve heard from a number of our brothers and sisters who would rather let you, or your spouse, or your parents, or your immune-suppressed child, get sick and die rather than wear a face mask.
None of them, however, has articulated herself with such obvious pride in her naked selfishness than a reader named Cindy Roshon.
It does not matter to her that masks are the least intrusive, most effective way to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus.
She wrote to me in part, “Well, thank god you’re not in charge ...
“Staying indoors is unhealthy, wearing a mask is VERY unhealthy, there’s plenty of evidence to support that from very knowledgeable doctors . ... Sick people wear masks, not healthy people, unless you’re a doctor performing a surgical procedure . ...
“So stuff the mask where the sun doesn’t shine. What are you going to do? Arrest me? Go ahead. I’d be proud to be arrested for standing up for my constitutional rights, which cannot be violated, even for health reasons.
“So, tattle on me, come get me, whatever. I’ll be easy to identify. I’ll be the one in the store without a mask.
“Proudly signing my name, Cindy Roshon.”
Proudly.
I’ve also heard from individuals puzzled by people like Ms. Roshon.
People like 94-year-old Bob Jeanes, a World War II and Korea veteran, part of a family that understands genuine sacrifice for fellow citizens.
Bob and his four brothers all served during wartime. One of his siblings was
killed in the Battle of the Bulge.
He wrote in part, “I think of my brother fighting for 70 plus days without relief and the sacrifice he made to defend our country so these wimps can bitch about the inconvenience of wearing a mask that might prevent some of us old dudes from getting Covid-19. I think of my mother, dealing with 5 sons in the military. How many mothers could manage that today?”
He is puzzled, he said, genuinely so, by those who believe that wearing a mask is too much of a sacrifice to save lives.
By those like Republican Rep. Andy Biggs, who call mask-wearing mandates tyranny.
Or those like Ms. Roshon, who seems to believe it is her constitutional right to potentially infect others.
Masks prevent virus carriers (some of them asymptomatic) from sickening or killing other people. Choosing to not wear a mask is not a matter of constitutional rights, it’s simply selfishness.
We cannot identify which maskless person in a crowd is spreading the disease. Because of that we ask everyone to help out. To wear one.
It is similar in some ways to smoking bans.
There are laws against smoking in certain places because we recognize the danger of secondhand smoke, meaning a person’s choice to light up could negatively impact others in the room, who would have no choice about getting sick. Mandating masks is like that. A person’s decision not to wear face covering could negatively impact others, who would have no choice about getting sick.
We protect one another from the potential danger of cigarette smoke. A virus is less visible and far more sinister. When there is no lit cigarette it is impossible to tell who’s blowing smoke.
Except in the case of Cindy Roshon.