We’ve moved from Ohio back to Texas. We bought a house we saw only on the internet and drove 1,200 miles from Worthington to Austin in two days—at our age and in the midst of a pandemic (insert shout-outs to safety minded Tru-Hilton hotels). Our route took us through southwest Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, and northeast Texas. We ate at drive-through restaurants and never took breaks to “stretch our legs” in roadside stores or malls. But we did have to stop for gas and other issues (delicacy forbids giving details).
I admit feeling apprehensive in a convenience store in Tennessee. Stepping in, I realized I was the only masked person in the store. Would they imagine I had come to rob the place and call the sheriff? Or would they grab their squirrel guns? I shouldn’t have worried. The scornful looks from the clerks and other customers told me they knew I was just another foolish Yankee who believed in “the plandemic.” (A term used by conspiracy theorists who claim the Coronavirus crisis is designed to make money for drug companies, or to undermine the Trump presidency.)
As it happens, from the time we crossed the Ohio River until we reached the outskirts of Dallas, I recall only signs and bumper stickers supporting the current resident of the White House; and not a few homemade banners and billboards celebrating his successes, not to mention the F-150s flying flags declaring, “Keep America Great.” One might imagine the absence of masks to somehow be connected. But pursuing that issue would be digressing. And I don’t digress.
But I will ask why some people resist wearing the masks. There seems to be ample evidence they help prevent us being infected or infecting others.
Why are some people refusing to wear masks?
Is it a matter of rejecting science? Are these folks along I-40 mocked (chastised) in those smug signs that say (among other things), “In this house we believe…science is real…?” (Any day now I expect “…the media is unbiased…” to be added to the list. But I digress. Oops.) I suppose a legacy of the Scopes Trial has been the perception of the scientifically vacuous South. Has the presence of Duke, Vanderbilt, and Rice meant nothing? Sure, some of those good old boys in that store might insist the earth is only 10,000 years old, but they know enough science to know a NASCAR doesn’t run on regular. And don’t forget that sad note in Bobbie Gentry’s “Ode to Billy Joe,” recalling how “… there was a virus going ‘round, Papa caught it and he died….” Any Southerner who listens to oldies radio knows viruses kill!
So is it regional? Why does Costco (based in Seattle) require customers to wear masks while Sam’s Club (based in Arkansas) “suggests” customers wear masks? Why do leaders in Southern states insist schools must resume in-person classes (at the same schools so many of these leaders claim are ineffective)? Much as I’d like to argue the rebellion against masks is regional, I admit I saw many maskless faces back in Columbus, especially amongst the bright young folks on the OSU campus (the positivity rate among students being tested for COVID-19 hovers around 4%, well above the national average). Ultimately, the issue might not be where people live but among whom they live; if wearing a mask earns the scorn of those we wish to impress, we will skip the mask no matter how dangerous not wearing it might be. Perhaps this is why Dr. Andrew Fauchi encourages Americans to set a good example by wearing masks: he hopes people will chose to be leaders, not followers.
Is not wearing a mask foolish bravado? A friend had furniture delivered to her home; the driver had no mask. When she mentioned his maskless condition, the driver said, “The virus? I’m not afraid of that thing.” I thought an appropriate response would have been, “That’s only fair, ‘cause it’s not afraid of you. It will get right up your nose.” It seems like the unmasked can display such courage only if they don’t have parents or grandparents or, as we now know, children who might be vulnerable, only if they have health insurance to pay for a four-to-six week stay in the hospital, only if they can stand to lose their jobs, only if their spouses don’t mind quarantining, risking their jobs, and their own health. Still, in a world where people smoke despite warnings, ride motorcycles without helmets, wear plaids with stripes, there will be those who go maskless because they believe “it” can’t happen to them. But, of course, just as there will be smokers who develop lung cancer, helmetless riders who have head injuries, and sartorially impaired who never have second dates, there will be those who eschew masks and contract COVID-19. Real bravery faces criticism and defies peer pressure by acting responsibly for the sake of others—and ourselves. And that isn’t foolish.
In the end, people aren’t wearing masks because they don’t want to. Encourage them to wear masks by saying, “Not everything is about you;” and they’re likely to respond, “I’ve never heard anything so silly in my entire life.” Consider this analogy. In the United States at least one in ten pregnant women still drinks alcohol, despite its link to birth defects related to Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. And expectant mothers in the US aren’t the worst offenders; Ireland, Denmark, and the UK have rates of 60%, 46%, and 41%, respectively. The prevalence of FAS in those countries follows the same pattern. Women in these countries, with their government sponsored health care programs, cannot claim ignorance about the risk. In the much of the world, any woman picking up a bottle of beer can read a warning like this from the European Alcohol Policy Alliance, “Drinking any alcohol can harm your unborn baby.” Still, they drink.
Should I show a little compassion because such women are obviously addicted? Addiction is real, but on that scale? My seventy-five-year-old grandfather developed polyps on his vocal cords and was told he had to quit smoking. Though he had been “rolling his own” since he was a teenager, he never smoked again. I’m sure the temptation to light-up was great but the desire to keep living was greater (he did live, dying just short of his 101st birthday). Addictions can be beaten. Surely, most of the women who continue to drink alcohol while pregnant don’t stop because they don’t want to.
No matter the excuse, people who won’t wear masks are barefaced narcissists. Usually, their excuses are shallow: “my glasses fog up,” “I can’t breathe with a mask on,” or “the mask hurts my ears.” Of course, sometimes the excuses are lofty. An Ohio politician won’t wear a mask because he claims it is an offense against God since we are made in God’s image. By no means do I wish to deny that humankind reflects the imago dei, but that politician is spouting bad theology. (Orthodox theology does not interpret “the image of God” in physical terms; rather, it suggests we humans, like God, possess intelligence, creativity, will, a capacity for relationships, and a moral sense. But I digre… you know.)
In short, individuals who won’t wear a mask are standing with fists on their hips, as they would have on the playground, and saying to the government, to the medical establishment, to the community at large, “You’re not the boss of me.” Though, should they get sick, they will certainly expect the government, the medical establishment, and the community to have a bed ready.
