The last several months have been tough on all of us… perhaps some of the toughest of our lives… certainly the strangest! Over the past 30 years Twila and I have worked incredibly hard, sacrificed many personal enjoyments and missed a lot of family fun to build our little businesses. And while, thank God, we are still in business, the Governor’s mandates have caused most of Kentucky’s small businesses, including ours, huge issues. His decisions have cost us all lots of money. And, sadly, we have watched some of our clients and friends go out of business and I suspect there is more yet to come. I don’t agree with much our leadership has done but I am man enough to say I am not sure I could have done better.
I say all that to say it is time to grow up, folks, and quit being silly about small things. If the Governor mandates we all go live in the woods and give up our indoor plumbing and air conditioning I’ll be right there with you telling him which side of the planet to jump off of. But when he and our leaders ask a small thing, like wearing a mask when we are out in public… and people choose not to do that… REALLY? Come on!
Now, I’ll admit there are a lot of you that are so pretty that maybe it is a loss to the world when you cover your face. But I am sure most of my friends, and all my enemies… of whom there are many… are celebrating that I am covering my face most of the time when they bump into me.
I was sitting outside a convenience market just the other day, after the mask mandate went into effect, and counted ten people enter the market while I was there. Only five had on masks. Don’t get me wrong… nobody hates to be told what to do more than I do. Why do you think I own my own businesses? I truly suck at following orders. I’m pretty sure the military would have tossed me out or locked me up if I had been drafted. But in this case, I have to admit agreeing to wear a mask seems a small price to pay not to experience another lockdown… not to see more of our friends and family unemployed and not to watch more of our small businesses forced to close forever.
I’m no scientist or doctor… I know you are shocked to hear that… but even I understand that if indeed this virus is transmitted by airborne droplets, then a mask has to be a major help in preventing the spread. Just think about somebody’s life you might save by wearing a mask and not spreading your potentially virus-laden germs.
And, you know, sometimes I am just amazed by how thoughtless people can be. As I write this Twila and I have just returned from dinner out with our super friends, Kay and Alice, at one of Bowling Green’s nicer restaurants. While sitting at a high-top table near the bar we watched a young woman sitting at the bar and vaping. Really? Not only did she enter without a mask but sat at the bar, near a number of tables where people were trying to enjoy their dinner, and she was blowing droplets of her germs into the air… no telling whose food they were falling on nor who was breathing them in. There are truly no words for someone this thoughtless and rude. AMAZING!
So, I say all this to say, please, wear a mask until this monster is under control and on its way out. The life you save may be yours… or even more importantly… mine. As for all you beautiful people… if you must share your beauty, share maskless pictures of yourselves on your phones instead of parading around in public without one. For the rest of us… there’s the added benefit of hiding our faces and making the world a safer and more beautiful place.
Cutline: Special thanks to Manny at 2nd Wind interdisciplinary design studio and The Chicago Bagel Authority for allowing us to use the picture of their great “wear your mask” mirror.
