TO MASK OR NOT TO MASK
Flying back yesterday from LAX after doing the Joe Rogan show gave me a lot of time to contemplate face masks. The airlines now require face masks in order to board. Interestingly, I was catching up on my issues of THE ECONOMIST magazine and stumbled across an article titled "Maskarade."
It went into detail about the face mask debate. After a lengthy expose about the issue, here is the final sentence: "Wearing masks in public does no harm, and may do some good--but that is always providing it does not reduce the supply available to local doctors and nurses." Nowhere in the article did it address the very negative aspect of decreasing blood oxygen levels due to re-breathing your own exhaust. Nor did it address the aggressive in-your-face constant reminder that everyone around you might kill you. That's depressing, worrying, and perhaps the single largest hit against your immune system.
The article pointed out in great detail that doctors and nurses go through hours of training regarding proper wearing, disposal, etc. The mask I took with me for the flight came into my possession at a medical clinic a month ago and it's been in the car. I wore it to get on each flight, pulled it down around my chin (it makes me feel light-headed) and of course wore it home.
LAX has an announcement about every 10 minutes that they require face masks in the airport. I did not wear it. I saw one other guy going through security without it. Nobody said anything to either of us. As I was walking to my gate, a young couple pushing a toddler in a stroller came up to me very directly and asked me if anyone had accosted me about not wearing one: "No," I replied.
Immediately they both ripped off their bandanas and I felt like I'd just instigated a Ghandi moment. As I got to the gate, I noticed several people not wearing them and nobody said anything. When I boarded the plane (which was full, by the way) my seat-mate immediately took his off once he sat down. The guy across the aisle did the same. I took mine off. Nobody said anything the entire flight. Even one of he flight attendants never wore one: I would love to know her exemption excuse.
When I went through the TSA identity check-in station, everyone had to pull their mask off for identification. The TSA agent had to keep pulling hers down in order to talk--it muffled her words. When I went through, it was smooth and she didn't say anything--even though LAX loudspeakers proclaim the mask requirement.
On the plane, every time an announcement was made about the requirement to wear masks (3 times each leg, to my recollection) it was followed immediately with a caveat: "If you see someone not wearing a mask, be understanding that they may have a reason." It was clear to me that altercations have occurred and the attendants are trying to keep some peace among touchy passengers.
My seatmate had ear buds in the whole time watching his movie on his smart phone and I wanted to express my solidarity with his obvious renegade spirit. As we got ready to depart, he pulled them out and I leaned over and gently said "I'm with you on the mask."
He quickly responded: "Those things destroy your immune system, man." As this mandatory wearing gets longer, I think we're going to see more and more rebels. Two of the ladies at our bank, where a new mandatory mask policy has just gone into effect, report that they now go home with headaches.
It reminds me of the time when a food recall occurred and my Congressman signed onto a bill that would create more regulations and make it harder for our farm to do business. The outfit with the outbreak had violated all sorts of existing rules; we didn't need more and another agency. The congressman's response was telling: "The people expect me to do something."
It didn't matter that it was unnecessary. It didn't matter that it might cause more harm than good. It reminds me of a conversation with a doctor friend who was heading away from drugs and doing other therapies. His biggest problem was that "people want a pill." They don't want to quit drinking Coke. They don't want to quit buying Happy Meals. They don't want to find a farmer. Nobody asks about the best solution; they just want a pill.
This is similar to the face mask mandates. By the way, nobody was social distancing through check-in, through security, through boarding, through stowing material. Big platitudes of safety from face masks to sporadic bursts of passengers allowed on and off, but in the end, more people are fooling with their masks, wearing filthy ones (like me), putting their hands to their faces adjusting things than if they were just left alone. But we're doing something, and that's supposed to make us all feel good.
When do you think the mask mandates will subside?