Masked and Muzzled

Like Doctors and Dogs

Up until what seems like only a few years ago I had no fear of any repercussions about speaking my mind about anything.  My pen was mightier than any sword and I wielded it wildly and prolifically.   I was a worthy contender in the arena of entertainingly playing with words and, when necessary, successfully using them to slay the beasts of bureaucracy and corporate transgressions.

I unceasingly wrote many published letters to editors on issues of the day and one letter, regarding ridiculous parking regulations in the lot across the street from where I worked, had Newsday actually sending a reporter to my home to write an article about it.  Only 42 years ago.  Time sure does fly!

I also wrote letters to my local elected officials and, yes, those dangerous tree limbs on my road finally got trimmed.  I wrote letters to companies about various disgruntlements such as the one to Sears for not giving me a credit card and one to JC Penney for returning to me a watch they repaired that was not MY watch and the whole saga of what transpired afterwards.  I wrote and wrote and wrote.  About everything.

I was the Karen of my time!

It used to actually be a "thing" that if you cc'd a well-known newspaper in your letter of complaint to whatever branch of government or company representative it would strike fear in their hearts.  "OMG," they would cry as they trembled in their suits, "She copied the New York Times!  Do something!"

Of course, this was long before OMG was a known abbreviation and what they really said was, "Oh my God!."

Yes.  This is all true and all well documented in my giant vault of letters.

And then, seemingly in the blink of an eye, came the Racism Revival Revolution (hereinafter referred to as "RRR") and everything once previously known and accepted (such as the First Amendment) was discarded and forgotten.  Orange Man lost a questionable election, Covid 19 began and the new era of Masked and Muzzled arrived.

I remember when curse words, especially the F & C words, were frowned upon by society and some unfortunate rebels had mouths washed out with soap for spewing them.  My family never used those words, at least within my hearing range, and I didn't say the F word until I turned 50 after my 63 year old sister shocked the hell out of me when I first heard it emerge from her mouth.  I always hated that word, especially when it is used as the only adjective for simply everything but once I started I could not stop and I screamed it in rage when I became…well…enraged.  I have since stopped.  I don't like it.  I think it is coarse and uncivil and unnecessary but that's just me I guess because so many others think it's just fine during these trying days.

In the meantime, a whole new crop of long sown innocently inane words has sprouted that now spark outrage among the RRR folks.  I am fearful of writing an example of even one of those words, of which there are thousands, because I do not want anyone to yell at me or call me denigrating names.  If Dr. Seuss can be cancelled just imagine what they would want to do to me.

We are living in a Cowardly New World where a simple word or a banana peel hanging from a tree sends horrified and typically young people scurrying off to their safety spaces.

https://townhall.com/columnists/toddstarnes/2017/08/30/discarded-banana-peel-causes-racial-hysteria-at-ole-miss-n2375376

Enter Covid 19.

Covid 19 and all of its endless variants have become the Great Maskers and Muzzlers.  We must fear them all and revere them for their omnipotent power over an entire globe populated by once sane human beings.  Wear a mask or you are an evil noncompliant member of society!  Hide your face in shame!  It doesn't matter if you are sick or not because maybe you could, might possibly, and most likely will get sick and spread it around everywhere you go!  You're going to kill GRANDMA!  We don't want to see your ugly mug or hear anything you have to say anyway!  Just wear it and STFU!

I have much to say about the vaccines but this piece is about the masks and the muzzlings.  Stay tuned for my vaccines opinion coming soon.

Any reasonable person realizes in some part of the reasonability section of their minds that the masks are all about control.  Shut up and don't speak so we can ignore you.  In fact, better yet, perhaps breathe in your own exhalations of carbon dioxide and just die.  Your voice no longer matters in the eyes and ears of the powers that be so at least, for the good of your fellow citizen, try and look the part.  If you speak then what you say will sound fuzzy.  Anything you have to say is not worthy of hearing anyway.  Do as we say but not as we do because what we say is good for you!

The outrage for me is the utter hypocrisy of those in our government who dictate these mask mandates and yet gleefully ignore their own rules.  You've all seen them frolicking at parties and other events, drinking and dining maskless without a care in the world and seemingly possessing absolutely no fear of the Covid they relentlessly demand the rest of us to fear.

I have heard the arguments about how doctors and surgeons often wear masks all day long.  Yes.  But they are not running marathons or physically exerting themselves.  They are not little toddlers who recently exited the womb and were slapped on the back to joyously inhale their very first breath of air.  Doctors and surgeons are most likely not you and certainly not me.  Many occupations require protective headgear.  Some occupations require Hazmat suits.  The majority of us are doing none of those things.  Instead, we are trying to shop, or dine out or see a Broadway show.  We are also not coughing and spitting on you.

That's the weirdest thing.  I used to go into the office to work with coworkers who had a cold or the flu and no one ever did anything!  Not a Lysol wipe in sight.  Just a boss who demanded that you really better be sick or else get your ass in to work.

To be muzzled like a dog or to be masked like a monster is sure to have long reaching psychological effects upon all of us.  Both are inhibitors of humanity.  No complaining, no smiling, no talking and no facial expressions all fall under the "stuff it" category.  Have you ever been in that category before?

I have.

I used to be the type of person who shut up like a clam anytime I had an issue with another person which needed to be addressed.  Instead of trying to talk about it I clamped my jaw shut and seethed.  This is not a healthy way to live emotionally, physically, intellectually or socially.  Freedom of speech and the ability to express what you are thinking and feeling is imperative to enable overall good mental health.

I was once in an abusive relationship with a man who turned on me in a flash if I said even the most innocuous thing.  "It's a lovely day, isn't it?" I would ask.  "WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?" he would accuse.  I was masked.  I was muzzled.

Now, having entered the RRR, we are all masked and muzzled.  No more uncensored letters to the editor.  No more declaring it a glorious day.  The underscore of every single word you say is a tombstone wall engraved with the only words permitted now:  "Shut up and obey."

Do not comply.