At some point during the last four months of this extended episode of The twilight area, a major public health problem has become a political litmus test. It shouldn’t be. And people and organizations in positions of influence are trying to reverse this trend.
The Saints are on board with the effort, posting an image on Monday of coach Sean Payton wearing a face covering with a Saints logo on the sidelines, with this message: “Do your job. . . wear a mask. “
Even if you don’t care about protecting yourself (you should) or others (you should), there is a simple and logical connection between wearing masks and limiting the spread of the virus and improving the possibility that the football season is happening. If you want the football season, wear a mask.
Crown verists continue to look for silver liners in the storm clouds that get stronger and don’t go away, but the news is bad and getting worse. The virus continues to pass through the population, largely without control. The summer months did not make a squat jack to slow it down. Thus, it will gather its forces and will make a big blow in the fall, except urgent and immediate action of all.
It starts with wearing a mask. I go to the local grocery store once a week. About two-thirds of people do not wear masks. About half of people who do not wear a mask seem to resent those who wear it. About a third of those who wear masks do not cover their noses. And then there are the people who wear a mask but who is under the chin.
It’s embarrassing, yes. It can get a little uncomfortable, yes. But it is the one tangible thing that we all need to do to maintain this slow nuclear explosion that seems destined to end up eliminating a million or more Americans from the face of the earth before a vaccine can be developed and distributed.
So listen to Saints and Sean Payton and Mitch McConnell and Mike Pence and everyone who is now urging us to do something we should have done from the start: WEAR A MASK.
