Masks and Vaccinations

The mask mandate is going away in Los Angeles County, where I live. Along with that, places have stopped checking your vaccine status. For almost two years, masks have been a part of my day-to-day. First, it was cloth masks, and in the last few months, my work required that I wear N95 masks. In our workplaces, we had to upload our vaccination status or agree to weekly testing if you did not get the shot.

The KN95 was the hardest to wear. They hurt my ears, and my glasses would slip off. To get comfortable in this mask, I read several articles wearing an N95 with glasses. Then, after bending and contorting the mask, I finally got it comfortable.

Perhaps I was a little too comfortable because, after the mask fit, I just kept wearing it. Long past the amount of time, most websites recommended wearing one.

I did well with the shots, I got both shots and a booster, and thank goodness, I didn’t have side effects. I drank a ton of water before each shot. Maybe it helped maybe not.

As I ponder the masks and vaccines,I have to reflect on how masks and vaccination status became divisive? The media and videos would show people defying the mask orders, people would protest the mask order, and even this week, we saw the Governor of Florida berate students who were earring masks; on the flip side, I have heard of people who aren't vaccinated, being bullied for their stance.

These types of behaviors make me sad. Yes, vaccination and mask-wearing are important and mitigate, but that doesn't mean it gives you a license to treat people poorly because they have decided that non=vaccination is the way they wish to go.

Name-calling and bullying won't persuade people to change, and personal outrage is not an intervention.

Personal outrage may make you feel like you have made the right decision, but it will rarely lead to change. The majority of the people I work with are vaccinated, and there are people that I work with who aren't. I don't belittle those people, I don't call them murders, and I don't wish ill on them. If I did, it would make me a lesser person.

The larger lesson I believe is this, outrage, anger, and name-calling may give you a temporary dopamine boost, it also may get you cheers and pats on the pat from those around you, but persuading people to make a different choice, involves listening, seeing, validating, and building consensus. It involves grace and patience.

Perhaps you are wondering what you should do with your anger and outrage over other people's decisions; I would say consider this, there is a difference between the way you feel and how you express your anger.

We don't need any more people who inflict pain and suffering onto those who disagree with them.