You Can Make Poor Choices But I Don’t Need To Be Kind About It
Before we go any further, let me be clear that this is a general post aimed at anti-maskers, science deniers, covidiots, and spreadnecks protesting for their freedumbs in Alberta and it’s not aimed at a specific person and yes I absolutely rolled my eyes while typing this disclaimer. It’ll be the last such disclaimer I ever type.
I’m sick of hearing, “Be kind” from people proclaiming their rights to not follow public health measures. I’m also sick of little ‘woke’ children proclaiming that they support everyone’s right to their choices whether they believe in the pandemic or not, whether to mask or not, and everyone needs more love.
What we need is less Covid.
Respecting and supporting everyone’s right to choose is great if we’re talking about pineapple on pizza, or a decision that only affects their life. For the most part, as long as your choices don’t negatively impact me or my life, I couldn’t care less what you do.
My life philosophy is ‘Do as thou wilt, and don’t be a dick.’
You wanna know what I think when I hear ‘woke’ people say they respect everyone’s right to either mask or not mask?
I think neutrality favours the oppressor and there’s a fine line between ‘good person’ and ‘pushover chicken shit.’
So some support and respect someone’s decision to ignore public health orders and rebel against a simple task like covering their face with a few layers of fabric when they go to the grocery store?
Do they support someone’s right to drive drunk? What about someone who chooses to beat their children? Or someone who chooses to go on a killing spree at the mall they happen to be at?
Those are choices too.
See, there are laws against certain choices. Laws that protect the greater good, and laws that hopefully prevent people from making bad choices that might negatively impact others. In some cases, you can be punished for bad choices, like if you kill a family while out exercising your right to drive drunk.
Some spreadnecks in this province think mask mandates and other health orders violate their Canadian Charter Rights. (Feel free to take a read of it here because you shouldn’t go on about the Charter if you haven’t actually read it) These Facebook legal experts should pay close attention to the very first part about ‘reasonable limits.’ Also feel free to do your research as to what powers the government has during a public health emergency here. (To summarize, they’re pretty broad and rights of the individual-or a minority of freedumb fighters-don’t outweigh the rights of communities to try and keep communicable diseases under control.)
Let’s now return to the ‘Be Kind’ concept.
Yes, some people say it and genuinely mean well. Being kind should always be the default, we can all agree on that.
But I’m about fed up with the people who say “be kind” when what they actually mean is:
“I want to do whatever I want while thinking only of myself and I really wish you wouldn’t call me out on it!”
Fun fact: Me stating that it’s important to wear a mask during this pandemic to help protect others and slow the spread…isn’t unkind. Refusing to wear a mask because you think you’re some kind of badass rebel fighting government tyranny…is unkind. Burdening our health care system is unkind. Not thinking of those with compromised immune systems, the 8 year old in your community with leukemia, the 84 year old grandparent, the young adult with cerebral palsy, the people in ICU who die alone because of Covid protocols…
You’re unkind.
You’re also selfish, which means you’re either stupid or sociopathic. What’s your choice?
Saying ‘be kind’ when someone tells you that your choices could potentially harm the community is low-key gaslighting. It trivializes my concern. It takes my concern (I say I and my but I’m actually part of a majority that wants you to put on a damn mask) and in my opinion, plays a version of DARVO, which stands for deny, attack, reverse victim and oppressor.
Soooo because I think the majority of people should wear a mask out in public and everyone should follow public health orders, I’m the jerk? That’s the RVO part. You don’t want to be judged for your behaviour that the majority has deemed unacceptable, so suddenly you’re the victim and we’re the jerks oppressing the crap out of you.
Reminds me of my ex thinking I was a total bitch for getting mad at him when I caught him with an escort in our bed when I came home from work early one day. I mean, obviously I was in the wrong there and I had no right to be angry because it wasn’t his fault I’d come home early. It was quite inconsiderate of me, really.
The problem with selfish, narcissistic jerks is that they count on other people being ‘the bigger person’ and staying on the high road. This makes really kind people easy to manipulate because they don’t want to be perceived as ‘not nice.’
As I’ve said before, I’d rather be healthy and well than ‘nice.’
So by all means, continue to ignore public health orders so we can all keep suffering this ‘new normal’ with no end in sight. That’s the choice you’re making for all of us.
But here’s the thing: You don’t get to have it both ways. You get to make choices, and by so doing you also choose the consequences of that choice.
You choose to ignore public health guidelines. (Which are laughably minimal, by the way.)
I choose to judge you for it. I choose to believe you’re either intellectually challenged, or sociopathic. Maybe both.
Isn’t living in a free country great?
Also, here’s a fun little medical piece about mask exemptions, written by doctors and stuff:
If you’re looking for studies about masks:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7191274/
Use of masks-CDC
Mask use during COVID-19: A risk adjusted strategy
Effectiveness of Cloth Masks for Protection Against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7314683/
In conclusion…you can choose to keep ignoring science and not wear a mask during a global pandemic and go socialize with a dozen friends and hit the casino if you want.
I can choose to not be kind about it.
