This Is Where My Liberal Heart Stops Bleeding

I was so relieved to hear that science says those of us who are fully vaccinated no longer have to wear masks in most public places. Yet, as I stepped out without that suffocating mask over my nose and mouth, free for the first time in more than a year, everywhere I went I was confronted with anxious people telling me I had to put on a mask.

I looked online for some explanation. Some local guy on Twitter proclaimed how proud he was that everyone in Trader Joe’s was still wearing a mask. Baffled, I continued to search for answers.

Some of the reasons stated were that people who didn’t trust science or the government enough to get vaccinated might get the idea that they too could go without masks and they would be at risk. (From each other?) The people who most strongly advocated for science dug in their heels and declared, “Science can be wrong.” Huh?

So people who were more afraid of science than they were of dying from Covid-19 might take unnecessary risks with their health if those who got vaccinated stopped wearing masks, and people who fought for a year to convince people to listen to science have decided not to listen to science?

Yesterday a young man barred the door to an empty HomeGoods store because I wasn’t wearing a mask. I threw up my hand and said, “Later, baby. I’m over it.”

And you know what? I am.