Masks Left At The Door
Courtesy of Creative Commons
Since March, countries all around the globe have been experiencing and dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. countries like New Zealand and Italy have been able to create regulations that have been able to reduce the number of cases; however, many other countries, especially the United States, have not been as successful at doing so.
With over 6.8 million confirmed cases, the United States has become the leading country with COVID-19 infections. Why is this happening in this country? What are we not doing for this to be happening? Who is to blame for this?
Masks have arguably been the most important and useful item when it comes to people protecting themselves and those around them when they go out in public. They have now become a necessity for safety and survival.
According to the CDC, “Masks are most likely to reduce the spread of COVID-19 when they are widely used by people in public settings.”
On July 10, 2020, Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed Executive Order 2020-147: Masks, which states that people must be wearing masks when they are in an indoor public space in exchange for service.
“Wearing a mask is an effective and low-cost way to protect ourselves and our families from a deadly disease. It should be—and is—the responsibility of every Michigander,” Whitmer stated. “The order requires any business that is open to the public to refuse entry or service to people who refuse to wear a face covering. No shirts, no shoes, no mask—no service.”
However, even with this order in place, many people in our community refuse to abide by the executive order, and these individuals continue to make the selfish decision of going out without a mask. Whether it be a restaurant, shopping mall, or a grocery store, there have been countless times where I have spotted someone in the Dearborn community who wasn’t wearing a mask. Working in these establishments, I have to constantly ask those who don’t wear masks if they don’t mind leaving and coming back once they have one on.
Typically, when I have had to deal with a situation like this, I have heard the same set pathetic excuses given to justify why he or she isn’t wearing a mask. The most frequent responses tend to be one of the following: “I forgot it in my car,” “I just want to pay for my order and then leave,” or “I promise I will be gone in just a minute.” Some people will even have a mask in his or her hand or pocket and will put it on once he or she is addressed by an employee.
What these people are failing to understand is that this isn’t just a government order that we have to follow, but it is a way to keep people safe and try to decrease the cases we are seeing in the community.
Although it may not be everyone, there are so many careless people living around us who will continue to not wear a mask and put our community in danger. The cases in our community will continue to increase and more people will die if people keep neglecting the reality of the pandemic, especially in Dearborn.
But how do we make our fellow citizens, our family members, and our friends care about this matter? The harsh truth is that it seems as if people care about things that haven’t personally affected them. There are hundreds of thousands of people who have had friends and family either test positive or pass away from this disease and those are the same people who you see wearing masks and taking every precaution to keep everyone around them safe.
We need to hold these people that continue to put our community at risk accountable for their actions. I’m afraid that if they do not have to face any substantial consequences any time soon, they will continue to not wear masks, and will continue to harm fellow Dearborn citizens. We need to push our local political leaders to enforce more severe punishments to those who fail to abide.
