To Those Who Just Can't Be Bothered with Wearing a Covid Mask

Is it because you want to be free to make your own choices? You don't want to be a sheep? It won't be long before Covid-19 kills someone or something you love.

TSM

The following letter is to anyone who feels wearing a protective mask or face covering is too much to be bothered with.

If you have a real medical condition that keeps you from being able to wear a mask, you need to know, this letter is not to you. I hope you're doing something, when indoors, to keep all of your droplets away from the rest of us.

This letter is to the server and bartender who handled my takeout order on Sunday and neither of you were wearing a mask. You're not following the safety guidelines issued by the Winnebago County Health Department. You also won't be getting my money anymore.

This letter is to the many people who walked into restaurants on the first weekend of Restore Illinois Phase 4 and got an attitude when asked to put on a mask. A few restaurants, already struggling to make money, provided masks for customers. How incredibly selfish of you to accept that mask. If you did, I sure hope you tipped enough to cover the restaurant's expense.

It really is a selfish act to go indoors anywhere without a mask. Every time you speak, droplets of saliva fly out of your mouth. When you cough or sneeze, there are droplets that fly out of your nose, too. Those droplets can land anywhere. And every time you stand too close, and you know you do, there's a chance they land on someone you care about. You've been doing it for weeks and you think nothing has happened to you because you don't have any symptoms. Perhaps you were too busy not being bothered to pay attention to the fact that having no symptoms doesn't mean you can't spread the virus that killed my friend's father last week.

A mask is a lot easier to breathe through than a ventilator. A LOT EASIER.

My wife and I have a daughter who will be starting school this August. It will be her first experience in a school building. We've built this experience up so much with her. She plays pretend school almost every weekend, and she gets so excited about making all kinds of new friends. She may have to wear a mask at school and that's ok with us. Most importantly, wearing her mask will keep her teachers and her classmates safe. If we don't do a better job with controlling the spread of this virus, she's not going anywhere. And, then we will be faced with the prospect of her mom having to darn near stop working to home school.

This will be our reality, without a doubt. As Dr. Fauci said during Tuesday's Senate hearing, if Americans everywhere don't follow key recommendations it will be a very long time before we get back to normal activities, like school.

There are only 3 Key Recommendations we need to follow to get out of this mess a little faster.

Social distancing
Frequent hand washing
WEARING A MASK (or face covering)

Perhaps you should tell your surgeon not to wear their mask either, since you apparently believe it is ineffective at stopping the spread of bacteria. This must be why you don't wear yours. Maybe that doctor performing that 3-hour long surgery on you doesn't know that wearing a mask will deprive them of oxygen. If that's why you don't wear a mask, you should tell that highly trained surgeon who has apparently been doing it wrong.

Wearing that mask is an act of respect. Do you really think it has something to do with your rights being taken away? Do you really not care if exhausted healthcare workers get time to rest? Do you know how many haven't been able to be around their significant others or their children because of this virus? And, if we don't keep flattening the curve, it could be even longer before many get time with their families.

A restaurant asking you to put on a mask is not a request, it is a requirement for allowing customers inside. Maybe you could stop being so selfish and think about just how disrespectful you're being. Masks and face coverings help stop the spread of this virus that kills people. Just because your favorite spots are reopening, doesn't mean everything is back to normal. In fact, if we don't do a better job of controlling the spread, our favorite places will have to close again, they'll lose more money and possibly have to close forever.

I don't know what you love to do most, maybe it's concerts, or baseball games, or football games. The reality is that you choosing not to wear a mask adds more and more months to the time it takes for those events to return.

It's not about your rights being taken away, it's about you being a decent human being.

Please make better choices, and... (lyrics are not appropriate for all ages).