Member-only story
Maskless in America
Just what was the big deal about having to wear a mask?
“I feel like I’m living in a third-world country.”
I overheard the words when my uncle was on a call with his best friend in Georgia. The man didn’t know he was on speaker phone, so the disdain in his voice was loud and clear. And I saw the way my uncle’s expression cringed into a grimace.
I tried to get back to what I was working on, but the words lingered in the back of my mind for a long time.
They must have left an imprint since I’m still recalling them almost two years later.
Why did my uncle’s best friend feel like he was living in a so-called “third-world”* country?
It all had to do with masks, of course.
(*Oh, all you boomers out there: we call them developing countries now. Less demeaning, less imperialistic, less mired with a history of glorifying the West. Get with the times.)
We’re all-in when it comes to this pandemic — wherever it’s going to lead next — but I never understood the controversy with masks.
Why was it so hard to do such a simple thing that would help ensure personal safety as well as being an attempt to protect others in the process?
