masking up: redux

Over at Justin Yoshida's blog, this humorous-yet-sad video was embedded:


Meanwhile, after the first video about masks by the It's OK to Be Smart team (highlighted here) proved to be a hit, a second video has been made:


My problem with American craziness is how quickly Americans regressed to this:

Barely a month or so ago, the above behavior would have been labeled "Karening," but the term "Karen" has now been cleverly appropriated by non-righties to describe folks who refuse to wear masks (mask-refusal is generally considered a rightie trait). Example: the "Karen" who just got thrown off a flight for refusing to wear a mask because she claimed to have "an unspecified medical condition." (How does that work? Does one simply say, "I have an unspecified medical condition, and I'd really rather not get into it"?) The stubborn lady was booted off the plane to a wave of clapping and cheering. She took her sweet time gathering up her things before exiting the aircraft with deliberate slowness, and at one point, she snapped, "You can clap all you want," to the people cheering her departure. What a bitch.

The lady was definitely an example of people fucking things up for the rest of us. We've seen that here in Korea, where certain people have insisted on gathering at church, a place at which spikes of infection are almost guaranteed to happen, especially among the elderly faithful. Overall, South Korea has "flattened the curve," so such spikes are rare these days, but some people insist on tempting fate, usually to their detriment. And they anger the rest of us.

But what of the temperamental assholes shown in the first video embedded above? Are these the same blindly stubborn sourpusses that my buddy Dr. Steve wrote about in his recent blog entry? Maybe. Those grumpy folks are shown in a bad light, but I'm willing to agree that they're overreacting to the presence of two jokey guys who are simply trying to give away masks. If the guys' point was that giving away masks is a hard sell, then I'd say they succeeded. Based on how their video is put together, it seems as if more people reject masks than accept them—but this may be a function of how the video has been edited, so be on the lookout for spin. The angry guys who rejected the masks in an embarrassingly inarticulate manner (almost all of them old, fat, and white) didn't make a very good case for why one doesn't need to mask up while out in open spaces. They spouted random slogans and talking points.

And that's part of the problem with the video. The guys seem to be trying to make certain people look bad for rejecting masks, but they're undermining their own point by offering masks while out in the open air. Now hear the good news: there's almost zero chance of catching SARS-CoV-2 if you're outdoors where the air is freely moving. Likelihood of infection goes up significantly when you're in an enclosed space—a car, a bus, a subway, or a building in which you have people in crowded, dense conditions, all breathing the same recirculating air. I'd say that the only thing the comic pair has proven is that certain people are way too oversensitive about supposed restrictions on their freedoms. ("The mask is a muzzle!" gripes one dude, without articulately explaining his position.) So while this video has comedic value in that it shows you how many touchy, easily provoked assholes are out there, it doesn't really drive home any substantive points about mask-wearing.

Had I been one of the people approached by the pair, I'd have gladly accepted a mask, but I would have articulately explained that I wouldn't be putting it on until I found myself in a confined space with plenty of other breathers. I would have asked the guys whether their intent was to make a point about masks or simply to make certain people look bad because making people look bad conforms to their unspoken agenda. I would have told them that they could have made their point more clearly had they run the same comedic experiment in a shopping mall, a bus, or some other indoor space. I would not have been angry or offended by what the guys were doing because (drawing myself up haughtily) I'm secure enough in my own views that I wouldn't be bothered by others' pandemic-related criticisms, veiled or otherwise.

That's one thing I'd note about the angry assholes in the first video. Deep down, one reason why these folks get angry is that they're insecure about their own viewpoint, and they're insecure because they haven't bothered to (1) do any research about the actual situation, and (2) do any deep thinking about the implications of their actions, or about what value system is motivating them, etc. To view the mask as a muzzle, or as a deadly blow against liberty, makes sense only in certain situations. I would be absolutely sympathetic to these folks if they were among the unmasked people being arrested for going alone (or in tiny groups) to an unconstitutionally closed-down beach or to a large park.

On the other side of the pandemic aisle, the Karens who point and yell, "I'm telliiiing!" like scandalized kindergartners are the mirror image of the insecure, easily angered assholes I just wrote about. Hiding behind the security blanket of authorities who act in arguably illegal and repressive ways, these screechers have no qualms about ratting out their fellow citizens, which is what gives rise to all the bitter remarks about how these Karens would have loved living in Hitler's Germany, selling out their countrymen just for the hell of it. To the Karens I would say: relax. Pull the massive stick out of your ass. Calm the fuck down. COVID-19 has an over 98% survival rate, and the chances of infection while outside are nearly zero ("the problem of SARS-CoV-2 is probably being overestimated"—source).

So both sides could use some Quaaludes and a heavy dose of laxative. Use a mask to protect others, and do it mainly when you're in confined spaces. There's no harm in wearing a mask while outside, but there's also no real need to do so unless you're in a crowd. Even then, your mask isn't going to be of much help unless everyone else in the crowd is masked up. If two cheerful, jokey guys come up to you offering free masks, take them with a smile and don't flare up as if the future of the nation were at stake. It's not. As certain pundits have noted, America's been through a hell of a lot worse. We'll survive this.

ADDENDUM: here's a rather embarrassing display of "anti-mask Karens" doing their inarticulate best to express their not-very-well-thought-out points of view (oh, and Kevins come in for some abuse, too!):


ADDENDUM 2: comedian Ryan Long notes the hypocrisies emanating from the unscientific left as well: