Catherine Manice: Mask wearing is not about politics

To The Daily Sun,

When you enter a business you will be assisted by a human being, not a thing that comes out of storage to meet your needs. That person may be caring for an elderly family member or have someone in their home that is medically fragile. You could be served by someone who is in a high-risk category and is financially unable to stay home during the pandemic.

Therefore, please wear a mask. Correctly. (It’s not a chin warmer.) I don’t know anyone who enjoys wearing a mask, but it seems a lot less painful than having to be intubated. When you refuse to wear a mask you are insulting everyone whose path you cross by stating that their life is beneath your notice.

Is being required to stop for pedestrians at crosswalks an assault on your right to drive? Most people think that it makes sense. Do you feel that the rights of restaurant workers are being infringed upon by the law that requires them to wash their hands after using the bathroom? I’m hoping that we can all agree that it is about food safety rather than oppression.

By extension, wearing a mask does not mean that you are being “ordered what to do with your face.” It is about hygiene. It is about kindness and care for other humans during a global health crisis. Whatever it is, it is not about politics. Your right to expose yourself to an illness stops at the line where you endanger another person.

Catherine Manice

Meredith