Mask

 The world changed a bit yesterday. The Centers for Disease Control determined that with a few exceptions those of us who are fully vaccinated do not need to wear masks. I know many of us were tired of wearing masks. It was, at least for me, an easy calculation. I worked for decades in correctional facilities. There are rules. Lots of rules. Rules about everything you can imagine and some things you probably can’t imagine. So we were told to wear a mask. How, when and where it was required. We could, through our cooperation, prevent the spread of disease. We could give ourselves a better chance of staying healthy. If we were infected and asymptotic we could perhaps reduce the risk of infecting someone who might get seriously ill or die from the disease. 

It made my life easier in one way. If I went out in public and shopped at a store if I saw someone not complying with their mask mandate I made a judge. In my head I determined in short order you were a self centered, ignorant asshole. You didn’t care about your fellow citizens. You were concerned only with yourself. There is a significant portion of the population that is refusing to take the vaccine. I think it is likely larger than the group who refused to wear masks. 

So now I have a dilemma. I could easily identify the assholes by their refusal to wear a mask. Now, masks aren’t required. I have no way to determine if you have been vaccinated. Your assholeliness has now been obscured. The only way for me to determine if you are an asshole is to look for other signs. Maybe a Trump shirt or bumper sticker. Perhaps one of the stupid red MAGA hats. If I get really lucky a shirt that says: “I’m with stupid!” and the arrow points up.