A Guy called Bloke is asking some important questions about mask-wearing this week. Also, I’m shocked at how many people he’s seen that are not wearing them!

1] Are you currently wearing face masks when you go out into public wherever you are in the world and 2] what type of masks are you wearing? [As in practical or stylish?]
Yes, I do wear a mask when I go into a building, but not outside. I live in a senior community and we have a lovely campus where we can take walks and meet up with others. I try to maintain distance when passing people while walking, and I always do carry a mask with me. Since my husband and I have a house, we don’t need to worry about wearing a mask when we leave the house, but we do carry one.

My masks (I have four of them now!) are cloth. One is plain gray but the others have colorful patterns, not that I care really. The one I like best was made by my sister-in-law, who made six of them for our family members. It’s not particularly stylish – it has a pattern of cherries on a black background and fits me well. I like the fit and the fact that when I breathe, it doesn’t stick to my face! I have 3 others, but that one is the best. I throw our masks into the wash every time I do laundry, so it’s kept quite clean.

Also – how do you feel about the wearing of masks? Do you see it as a protection or an infringement on your civil rights?
I don’t really like to wear a mask – probably most people feel this way – but I do it because the medical experts say it is effective in reducing the rate of infection of the virus. If the droplets containing the virus are in the air, using a mask helps me as well as others. I also follow the rules imposed in our community which are more stringent due to having a population of elderly people.

I do not think it is an infringement on my civil rights – it’s more of an infringement of my rights when others DON’T do it out of silly notions that somehow the Constitution protects their right not to wear a mask! They are just being selfish! This is a worldwide PANDEMIC, an emergency situation! This has nothing to do with politics and we should all be united on this! You don’t get to just ignore the requirement to wear a mask in a store, for example – I saw a video on Facebook of a 77-year-old woman in Costco who didn’t have a mask and when they gave her one, she refused to wear it. She sat on the floor and then asked for a refund for her purchase because they would not let her roam the store without a mask. When she left the store, she threw the mask on the ground. She supposedly is trying to make a point – although I don’t think she has a point, she just looks foolish! Her rights end where mine begin. Society is not a free-for-all where any individual gets to do whatever he or she damn well pleases. For those that think that way, drop out of society, go live by yourselves! As a society, as a nation, it is our duty to respect each other’s rights as well as assert our own. It’s in all of our interest to comply with society’s rules, for the betterment of society and thus our own lives as well.

It actually makes me really angry that the United States lacks the leadership to set an example and to encourage people to follow these mitigation measures. My husband and I are retired and love to travel, which we have not been able to do. And now many countries are banning Americans from entering their territory (such as the EU) because the situation here is so dire. Other countries have gotten the spread of the virus under control – we could too, if we had leadership at the national level. Our country is suffering in many ways because people are non-compliant: more deaths, more spread of the virus, overextended hospitals and medical personnel, students unable to return to school, etc. It is simply inexcusable!!

I live in a state, Illinois, which has had a high number of cases, but we are “flattening the curve” here because most people are compliant with the mandate to wear a mask in public places and to maintain 6 foot distance. The states where the virus is out of control are mostly those controlled by Republican governors who decided to follow Trump’s lead – and not lock down their states early enough – they are now are regretting it, I think! Our governor, J.B. Pritzker, has been critical of Trump’s response and he took measures based on the science early (by mid-March – that was considered early in the U.S.). And the mayor of Chicago is kicking people off beaches who don’t wear masks while out of the water and don’t maintain the appropriate distance from others. She is also exacting fines for people who refuse to follow the mask mandate in government buildings. In private businesses, most are also requiring mask wearing and it’s up to them to enforce it.

In my opinion, it should be a federal mandate due to a medical emergency situation to wear masks, and a fine should be imposed on those not wearing them.