As the pandemic drags on in our nation, proponents and opponents of the mask alike have become increasingly uncivil if not altogether unhinged. Viral videos document all sorts of lunacy surrounding this seemingly innocuous piece of cloth.
Social media brims with exhausting memes and diatribes insisting that either wearing a mask entails a virtuous sacrifice of the highest order or that refusing to wear one is some grand act of defiance reminiscent of Rosa Parks or the Boston Tea Party.
What the mask seems to really symbolize, however, is a rising tide of incivility toward one another with no end in sight.
TMZ recently shared a video of a woman in Manhattan Beach, California dousing a man with hot coffee for not wearing a mask. What began as a somewhat minor exchange in the full video quickly devolved into violence. The man was simply eating with a friend outside when the woman berated and accosted him.
A man in Indiana assaulted a clerk with hot coffee for the exact opposite reason according to U.S. News:
“The man entered the store without wearing a mask and attempted to buy a cup of coffee. When he was told he could not be served because he was not wearing a mask, the man threw the cup of coffee on the female clerk and left, police said.”
Calvin Munerlyn, a security guard in Flint, Michigan, was shot and killed for asking a patron to wear a mask inside a local store as reported by CNN.
ABC7 reported that a security guard in Gardena, California shot a man in an altercation that also began over masks.
Meanwhile, there seems to be an endless stream of videos of people having full-on public meltdowns for being asked to wear a mask in a place of business.
Not to be outdone, there are, of course, countless examples of people being attacked for not wearing masks in equal and opposite measure. Even trained psychiatrists are jumping into the fracas.
Anchorage Daily News reported, “A prominent Alaska psychiatrist faces a criminal charge for allegedly punching a man in the face for not wearing a face mask in a Juneau Fred Meyer earlier this month.”
Here in California, the mask is no longer just a potential preventative measure against COVID-19 but also a progressive symbol of the highest order. It seems masks are now a kind of political accessory alongside a raised fist and a Che Guevara t-shirt. Many are bedecked in gloves, goggles, and masks 24/7, even when hurling down the freeways with virtue signaling and endless anxiety at the wheel.
One is required to wear a mask outside even when maintaining social distance lest one be shunned, jeered, or fined. Some cities in California may now fine you up to $2000 for not wearing a mask outside.
Worse, Californians risk being randomly assaulted by some misguided lunatic if they forget to don the mask. The San Diego Tribune reported on a man being pepper-sprayed for not wearing a mask in a dog park of all places:
“San Diego police are investigating after a woman reportedly maced or pepper sprayed a man for not wearing a mask while he was eating at Dusty Rhodes Dog Park in Ocean Beach last week…”
Understandably, most of us find wearing a mask a nuisance and instinctively want to avoid it. Many are also unsurprisingly skeptical of the media coverage of the pandemic, which has been incessantly politicized by mainstream outlets, which have shifted the pandemic narrative to a fatiguing degree. However, that such frustration should compel anyone to berate or accost those with whom we vehemently disagree is diametrically opposed to the traditional values of civility and decency that have served as the bedrock of our nation for generations.
Such values may well be lost on the progressive fringe amid their endless tantrums, but not on those of us who still believe it’s our fundamental duty as Americans to uphold such values.
Drawing from antiquity, Marcus Aurelius offers advice for all those struggling to maintain civility: “Keep this thought handy when you feel a fit of rage coming on — it isn’t manly to be enraged. Rather, gentleness and civility are more human, and therefore manlier. A real man doesn’t give way to anger and discontent, and such a person has strength, courage, and endurance — unlike the angry and complaining. The nearer a man comes to a calm mind, the closer he is to strength.”
Vice President Mike Pence put it more succinctly: “I’ve always believed that civility in heavy doses is essential in self-government.” Is it too much to ask for some civility over a piece of cloth?
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