Further Proof The State Is Daddy To Most People
In Georgia last week all COVID-19 based restrictions were lifted. I happened to be out of town at the time, but as someone who lives close to, and works in Atlanta, I was eager to see what the attitude amongst Atlantans would be. Would people immediately jettison the masks? Would restaurants open to full capacity? The reaction of the populace IMMEDIATELY after the lifting of restrictions was always going to be my gauge for what the future would hold in Georgia.
A little background first. A few weeks ago I decided I had enough. Not only did I stop masking up in public, but I stopped wearing the face diaper at work as well. I received a couple dirty looks in the grocery store but no one confronted me. At work I was left alone. No one said a word. Even when I was in Birmingham, AL last week, a city that kept the mask mandate after the state lifted it, there wasn’t a peep out of the masketeers. It’s yet to be determined what restaurants will do as far as returning to full capacity but I’m sure the smaller ones will fully open.
Upon returning to Georgia from Birmingham, I immediately went to the grocery store to get supplies for the week. As a reminder, all State mandates had been lifted. I walked in mask-less and shopped for 20 minutes. I don’t believe I received a dirty look from anyone. I even asked an employee if they were out of something and they didn’t mention my bare face. I went back to the same store 3 days later and saw a few mask-less faces. After grocery shopping I went to the Post Office, a place that has been religious in their mask-related fervor. I was second in line and no one said anything even though there were signs everywhere. The people in line were masked up but none even looked at me sideways. The worker at the counter didn’t say a word.
Am I delusional enough to believe this is all over? Of course not. I’m taking a five hour flight next week and my normal ploy of drinking water and snacking the whole flight may still get challenged. But I found it interesting that only a few days after the mandate was lifted, attitudes seem to be changing already. Even at my job there appears to be a different vibe. For years libertarian commentators have been saying that the general public looks at the State and the corporate press for their truth. Most people look to them as they would look to a father. In this case, at least in Georgia, it appears the public is taking its cues from the governor’s office. Things can only get better, right? If it does get better, that doesn’t mean it’s going back to “normal.” Remember, the world has been changed forever.
The tide may be turning for COVID but the damage done is decades away from full realization. How many families and close friends are now divided? More than zero, our family it is no exception. It does seem fall along the lines of people who think disobeying authority is completely unacceptable and those who think it is a moral imperative to do so. It doesn't seem to matter how many horrors can be attributed to that type of thinking of blind compliance, but the zombie armies have been created and they aren't going anywhere. People have chosen other people as their gods, suffering is inevitable in their efforts to please them.
I am sure the big statistics will come for all the lost value from optimizing the health and welfare 0.003% vulnerable (a great deal towards those who put themselves there from over consumption of garbage or lack of discipline in the fitness space), but the willingness for the society to prioritize the old, sick, and wealthy (after all where is all this cultural pressure coming from) at the expense of the young, healthy, and poor is just something straight out of a dystopian novel in this context. Buckle up, the next "emergency" is already here and sure to be followed by several more "world crises". The powerful are corrupted and I don't see them relinquishing any of it in the near future. I mean look at the all the well behaved citizens they have! Best find your people and build your life with community and meaning with orthogonal systems, and watch out for those zombies................they will eat your brains, defensive mindset required.
For lots of reasons. I haven’t worn a mask to regular stores since the beginning of this fiasco. In the beginning they would sometimes have door monitors to nag you, but usually they didn’t actually say anything, and once I told them about my medical exemption, they almost always relented. I have never had another customer actually say something to me about not wearing a mask, though I imagined a couple of disapproving looks.
However, there are certain activities where it is nearly impossible to avoid a mask. These include any kind of appointment with the medical establishment, flying, and anything where it is necessary to make a reservation and where rescheduling someplace else would be hugely inconvenient. But for regular retail establishments, it is just too easy to tell them you’ll go somewhere else.
Certain kinds of stores are much more likely to enforce a mask mandate, like the “woke” REI store. A while back, REI had two mask monitors guarding the door and you also had to get your temperature taken before you could go inside. I inquired about a medical exemption and they replied that they had made accommodations for persons claiming medical exemptions by allowing them to wear a face shield or another kind of face covering. I told them I would go someplace else. I noted their huge parking lot was almost empty.
On the other hand, places like Tractor Supply often had fewer than 50% of patrons wearing masks and places like the Archery/gun store had zero masks.
I used to feel slightly self-conscious being the only customer without a mask, but it wasn’t long before I started walking just a little taller because I knew I was one of the few people who wasn’t afraid to use my own judgement and not give in to peer pressure. Not that people wearing masks weren’t thinking for themselves too, but it never seemed that way.
I just got back from visiting Virginia and caught covid from my niece while I was there. I feel pretty tired and weak, but it would be worth it if I thought having already acquired immunity would shield me from having to obey mask mandates and passport requirements in the future, but of course I know it won’t make any difference. So far, I’ve been able to evade the persistent contact tracers, so I do have a little bit of satisfaction from that.
Welcome to the world of visible faces. I hope they don’t put too much pressure on you at work.