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Page A-4 Shelton-Mason Journal Thursday, July 9, 2020
‘9) M
TIMES
- I’ll take one freedom mask
ere are some tales from
America’s latest great de—
bate about the nature of
nature:
We’re only two weeks into
Gov. Jay Inslee’s order requiring
every Washingtonian to wear a
facial covering in public places, but
Hardware Distillery Co. co-owner
Jan Morris had an early jump on
what a lot of people, espe—
cially business owners, are
learning only now: When it
comes to following rules on
masks, some people behave
like they’re related to the
king.
Starting in May, Jan had
a sign on the door of the
distillery in Hoodsport that
asked customers to wear
a mask while inside. She
also has them present their
hands for a spritz of the
sanitizing spray made at the dis-
tillery. Most people follow her mask
request. A few have not.
“I have to ask some of them to
put on a mask, and it’s rough some-
times,” Jan said during a Visit I
made to her store May 28. “I’ve had
a few people say they have a mask,
but they just left it in the car.”
That’s some warped thinking:
I’m not wearing a mask now, but
because I have a mask in my car,
you can trust that I’m a mask-
wearer and therefore not a risk to
you.
I witnessed that same line of
thought while standing in a store
line with five other people earlier
this weekuA man without a mask
walked past us to the back of the
line while explaining that while he
didn’t have a mask on now, he was
wearing one earlier in the day.
Jan said she tries to keep her
distance from people in the dis;
tillery who disrespect her mask
request, and she has heard many a
lame excuse from those unmasked
folks.
“The best line I’ve heard,” she
told me, “is ‘I don’t need to wear a
mask because I worked in a Clorox
factory for a number of years.’ ”
In the injection division most
likely.
A couple of weeks ago at an '
anti-mask rally in downtown Shel-
ton that drew 25 people, Shelton-
Mason County Journal reporter
Gordon Weeks had a conversation
with a female demonstrator.
Gordon asked her why she
By KIRK
ERICSON
doesn’t wear a mask.
“This is based on fear and false
statistics,” she explained. For in-
stance, “on the side of the mask
box it says, ‘Not to be used for CO-
VID-19.’ So why are we wearing
them?”
Gordon followed up: “Where did
you get that information?”
“I saw it on my phone,” the anti-
masker said. She waved
her phone in front of Gor-
don’s face — just in case
Gordon didn’t fully appreci-
ate the credibility of her
phone.
The anti-mask com-
munity likely has a lot of
diversity of opinion among
its ranks and this woman
shouldn’t be treated as
an exemplar of all anti—
maskers, but imagine if her
idea of citing her phone as
a reliable source catches on. I could
then write this sentence in good
conscience:
“The coronavirus infection rate
among peOple who attend anti-
mask protests is 10 times lower
than it is among people Who attend
Black Lives Matter protests,” ac—
cording to my phone. “Scientists
believe,” my phone continued, “that
the infection rate is lower when a
protest is made up of at least
percent white people.”
Because my cellphone tells me
so
I pulled my purple bandana
up over my nose and face as I
walked through the doors of a li-
quor store in Olympia three weeks
ago. The fellow behind the counter
said hello, and I told him how weird
it is to enter a liquor store while
pulling a mask over my face, like
only robbers used to do. If I had
entered that store just five months
ago while wearing a face mask, our
relationship would have taken a far
more disagreeable path.
“You want to know what’s really
weird?” he asked.
“Sure,” I replied.
“A lot of times people come in
here wearing a face mask and they
have a gun strapped to their back,”
the clerk said. “We have a gun
range in the back of the store, but
it’s still really weird to see that.”
These are some times, these
times.
I Contact Kirk Ericson at kirk@
masoncounty.com
Wltmflmwnntonntn time
USPS 492-800
The Shelton-Mason county Jour-
nal is a member of the Wash—
Publisher: Tom Mullen
EDITORIAL
The politicization of masks.
r. I The Anderson County Review in
Kansas became a Viral sensation
recently, calling attention to it-
self well beyond its 2,900 circulation.
The newspaper posted a politi-
cal cartoon on its social media page
about the state’s governor, Democrat
Laura Kelly, and a recent mandate
' she signed requiring residents to wear
masks in public areas and in places
where social distancing can’t be ac—
complished. The cartoon features
Kelly, wearing a mask with the Star of
David printed on it, standing in front
of people being loaded onto cattle cars.
The cartoon’s caption-reads “Lockdown
Laura says: Put on your mask and
step onto the cattle car.”
Comparing the mask mandate
with the Holocaust —— that escalated
quickly.
> After a firestorm of criticism, the
newspaper’s publisher apologized for
the cartoon and removed it from the
newspaper’s website. Beyond almost
universally seen as being in poor taste,
the cartoon highlights the growing
politicizing of face masks and Orders to
wear them,
Restaurants and other service-
based businesses in some states have
reclosed their lobbies because of abuse
their employees received from those
opposing the idea of wearing a mask I
in public. They are a very vocal minor-
ity, but seem intent on challenging the
idea any chance they get.
The big question is this: Why is
/
wearing a mask such a polarizing
act? Masks help slow the spread of
most communicable diseases, not just
COVIDwIQ, and as we’re still living
in a pandemic, they’re recommended
by health care providers. We didn’t
see this sort of opposition to recom-
mendations made to frequently wash
our hands. Yet, orders to wear masks
in public, designed to help curb the
spread of the coronavirus, are being
seen by some as an infringement of
their rights.
This pandemic is a temporary
event. As such, wearing a mask in
public in places with orders in place
isn’t going to be a permanent man-
date. The claim that such require-
ments infringe on individual liberties
is also very shaky. A person can’t have
a 30—foot bonfire in their backyard and
not expect a visit from police and fire-
fighters because the risk to other resi-
dents’ property is too great. Likewise,
people aren’t supposed to drive beyond
posted speed limits for similar reasons
— the risk to both their safety and the
safety of others becomes greater the
further the speedometer climbs beyond
that limit.
A mask isn’t a big deal and wearing
I one isn’t part of some grand conspiracy
to control the population. It’s part of
an effort to reduce infections from a
disease the nation has had a very poor
response to..The day will come where
this will be all behind us, but for now,
put the mask on.
WHICH ONE REQUIRES COMMON
AND NO CONSTIUTUTIONAL GUARANTEE
OF FREEDOM?
SEAT BELT
(Mary)
in-
SUN SCREEN
(skin Cancer)
(comm) Jam?”
Front office:
Dave Pierik, office administrator
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Published weekly by the Shelton-Mason County Journal
at 227 W. Cota St., Shelton, Washington.
Mailing address: P.0. Box 430, Shelton, WA 98584
Telephone: 360-426—441 2
Website: www.masoncounty.com
Periodicals postage paid in Shelton, Washington.
Newsroom: I Niel Challstrom
Adam Rudnick, editor in chief
Gordon Weeks, reporter
Justin Johnson, sports/outdoors editor
Kirk Erlcson, columnist/ proofreader
Lloyd Mullen, creative director
Isabella Breda, reporter
$62 per year ($43 for six months)
for Mason County addresses and
$75 per year ($55 for six months)
outside of Mason County.
Composing room:
William Adams, advertising and
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Owned and published by
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