Masks: the accessory of choice for insufferable scolds
After reusable grocery bags were deemed germ-infested canvas petri dishes, the insufferable scolds among us, desperate to signal their virtue, have turned to masks as their accessory of choice.
After reusable grocery bags were deemed germ-infested canvas petri dishes, the insufferable scolds among us, desperate to signal their virtue, have turned to masks as their accessory of choice.
It isn’t about protecting others from their germs; that’s incidental. What matters to them is masks signal to the world just how moral and virtuous you are.
It’s why they make a big deal out of President Trump not wearing a mask — despite the fact that he has repeatedly tested negative for the Wuhan virus so a mask is pointless. To the masked scolds, whether it’s necessary is irrelevant. But it does give them one more reason to view Trump as immoral.
These insufferable scolds have created a cottage industry out of posting videos and pictures on social media of those who aren’t wearing masks. The more vicious among them directly confront non-mask-wearers in order to give them a piece of their mind.
And they are instilling in their children the same insufferable moral preening:
As a New York resident, I have to wear a mask in the grocery store. Hey, I have to eat. And in New York State, you must wear a mask while in a grocery store. It makes my time in the store brief because I find it difficult to breathe – and more difficult to see as my glasses fog up. As soon as I exit the store, the mask comes off.
You should see the dirty looks I get from mask-wearing patrons in the parking lot when I pull my mask off.
It’s the same dirty look I got from them when, in early March, I said something snarky to the checkout girl about New York State banning plastic grocery bags. And the same dirty look I got when I cheered the return of plastic grocery bags after they discovered reusable bags are the Typhoid Mary of virtuous accessories.
The insufferable scolds are using masks as a way to instantly label their fellow Americans as either good and virtuous citizens or evil, selfish Grandma killers.
Insofar as masks may or may not be an effective way to minimize the spread of Wuhan virus (and there is dispute on this), protecting yourself and others from a virus is secondary to these people. The primary purpose of masks is to virtuously signal your goodness to the rest of the world.
Well, of course Alyssa is a Mask Nazi. Did you really expect anything different from her?
One idiot on Twitter posted a video of Staten Islanders chasing a non-mask-wearing person out of a grocery store. No, I’m not going to post it. Angry-Mob porn isn’t my thing. But, if you want to watch, here’s the LINK.
While you’re at it, read through the replies. The insufferably virtuous are applauding this. They actually think the ones who got in the unmasked woman’s face and harassed her are the decent people in this scenario.
Fact is, the people confronting her violated social distancing rules when they got in that woman’s face to harass her. Which pretty much confirms my point. They’re not concerned about health and safety. But harassing this woman made them feel virtuous. And by extension, those on Twitter could indulge in their own moral preening while cheering them on.
I’ve seen non-mask-wearers in my grocery store. You know what I do? Nothing. I don’t take their pictures and post them on social media. I don’t chase after them and shriek at them. I don’t tattle on them to a store employee. I don’t do a damn thing because I’m not an insufferable scold who believes the inconvenient mask on my face give me license to be a raging bitch.
We’ve become a nation of pliant, insufferable sheep. Rather than pursue “herd immunity” we are fostering “herd mentality.” But the sheep have no idea they’re sheep because they’re far too self-satisfied with their own goodness and virtue to notice.
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