Laws divide us. They create violent enforcers and innocent criminals. When those laws are imposed by the smallest political class, the effects are exacerbated.
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I was maskless in a Delaware library with my sons this morning. We searched the stacks for Minecraft, Pokémon, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, and One Piece books.
My younger son has read 18 volumes of the One Piece manga series. Our look at the online catalog revealed that the 19th volume was available at a library on our way home, but I could not place it on hold. We had the time for a detour and headed in that direction.
This library had a very different feel. There was a uniformed guard insisting that we all wear masks. We walked out and I gave my sons a choice, wait in the running car with the A/C on while I ran in for the book or put masks on for a few minutes to join me. After fumbling in the car for our long unused and cross-contaminated masks, we returned to the entrance. A man was exiting the library and started challenging me in an elevated voice. The jist was that I was part of the problem by giving into the mask wearing. I tried to tell him, “Long day, man, tired of the fight. There are things we can only get in there and I’m giving in for a few minutes.”
He chose not to hear me. He accused me of child abuse for forcing my children to mask. I explained in clear words the choice they had been given and directed him to ask them about their decisions.
He chose not to hear me. I tried once more to explain that I may not be perfect, but I wasn’t the enemy.
My blood was up, but I saw this was fruitless. I turned my back as he crowed about my freedom to jump off a bridge, or some such nonsense.
I entered the library and noticed the guard was distracted from his post. I also checked into my memory and realized this maskless hero had only walked in a minute earlier to drop books in the return slot. His bravery extended to shouting at a single dad and his sons.
Laws must be enforced arbitrarily. One library has no mask enforcement while another in the same state has a uniformed guard dedicated to enforcement. That guard has no backup, so even that enforcement is subject to circumstantial whims. This arbitrary enforcement creates confusion. The confusion manifests as wholly absurd behaviors including yelling at strangers and improperly (and inconsistently) wearing masks.
It is all a dad can do to create a sane and stable environment for his children. It drains me many days. Today was worse than most.
Be kind. Don’t make assumptions. You don’t know how bad someone’s day has been or why they are doing what they are doing. Don’t be a maskhole.
