Wear the dang mask

In these times of diminishing free speech privileges, and the co-morbid violence which accompanies such degradation, I am anonymously appealing to my fellow humans to consider the value of wearing a mask. I am neither Democrat nor Republican; I am neither conservative nor liberal. I am Everyman. I am outfitted with a miraculous DNA which promotes basic survival imperatives.

If I exclude my political persuasions, filter my spiritual leanings, and in general, remove any obstacles to transmitting my message, perhaps I stand a chance of getting your attention. Please spend the time required to read this weighing the mask question reasonably.

Do epidemiologists agree? Are experts aligned on the question of masks? If the mask proponents are correct, we protect our vulnerable citizens. If they are incorrect, we endure the horrific burden of sporting a mask.

On the grand scale of human suffering, wearing a mask may well be an American embarrassment when compared to worldwide human suffering. Wearing a mask is not an economic shutdown. It is an attempt to mitigate a virus. If it is 5% better than no mask, it is a small price to pay for the safety of the vulnerable.

The 30-year-old who knows no physical suffering is challenged to appreciate the 70-year-old’s innocuous cough, which quickly becomes an ICU admission.

Please wear your mask in public. If it turns out to be impotent, you have, at the very least, entered into the suffering (albeit American) of man, and that is never ignoble.

Bob Auerbach, Whitefish