LISTEN. Entering class today for the first time in the Covid era without a university-imposed mask mandate, in a red state and with shaky guidance from our school's president to "encourage our community members to consider the use of masks as circumstances warrant" and "encourage our students, faculty and staff who have not been vaccinated to consider taking this precaution."
Great. Do please consider it, all who've previously chosen to disregard minimal considerations of public health and responsible citizenship.
Wonder who was consulted about this.
But okay. Here we go... (continues)
I am so excited I do not have to wear a mask anymore.
ReplyDeleteNone of us likes wearing masks, but it was never about personal comfort and convenience. President McPhee advises that we should still wear them in "public gatherings"... isn't a class a gathering?!
ReplyDeleteThe rules in regards to masks have always been arbitrary and incoherent.
ReplyDeleteIt was not about safety either. Masks do not prevent anything except convivence and comfort. And make you feel like the entire world is a hospital you never get to leave, where your only social outlets are limited in real face to face interaction by a cloth. Making everything even more unbearably impersonal than it already was.
While I’ve never liked the mask mandate in itself, it doesn’t only matter what I feel in the grand scheme of things. If it makes other people more comfortable, it’s the least I can do for others.
ReplyDeleteAnd, the studies I’ve seen have defended their utility. It’s all about the proper use of them, however. For example, If you reuse disposable masks or don’t wash your washable ones, of course they’re not effective.
However, I realize the argument doesn’t end there. I can go back and forth on this for ages, but I won’t do that here. I usually try to avoid huge debates when their predicated on things as small as a piece of cloth.