It's not about you
It all seems so simple - should you wear a mask or go out to eat in a crowded restaurant or run alongside your friends? It is simple if the only person who may be affected by your decision is you and only you.
But, do you have parents, grandparents, other family, a partner, a spouse, friends, or co-workers? Do you know their health histories? Maybe someone has heart disease or high blood pressure. Maybe someone else has an autoimmune disease such as rheumatoid arthritis or lupus. Maybe someone has COPD. Maybe another person just had a transplant and is on immune suppressant drugs. And, maybe someone just began or ended a course of radiation or chemotherapy.
There is no way to know whether everyone you come within physical distance of is at risk of any virus, whether coronavirus or the flu. So why would you risk the health of someone you like or love or a stranger who happens to walk by you? Is your freedom to wear your mask or not worth it?
Think of social distancing and wearing a mask as drinking or smoking. Yes, we have the legal right to drink or smoke tobacco at a certain age but drinking and driving can kill someone. Second hand smoke can cause cancer. So whose right should take precedence?
I speak from worry about my personal health. My immune system is fragile after almost 2 years of chemo. If I get too sick, I would need to delay chemo giving cancer a good chance to spread some more.
Every person who gets sick enough to spread germs and comes close to me can send me to the hospital and possibly kill me. I cross the street in the neighborhood when walking to avoid someone on the same side as me. I pull up my mask when passing anyone on my walk. I've stopped walking on the bike and hike trail at the park in my neighborhood. Why? Because it's not wide enough to separate me from anyone else using the trail and because not everyone is social distancing or wearing masks.
Wearing a mask or not or social distancing is not a political decision. It's about thinking of others who may not be as healthy as you and who may die because of your decision.
It's not about you but it IS about me and others like me.
But, do you have parents, grandparents, other family, a partner, a spouse, friends, or co-workers? Do you know their health histories? Maybe someone has heart disease or high blood pressure. Maybe someone else has an autoimmune disease such as rheumatoid arthritis or lupus. Maybe someone has COPD. Maybe another person just had a transplant and is on immune suppressant drugs. And, maybe someone just began or ended a course of radiation or chemotherapy.
There is no way to know whether everyone you come within physical distance of is at risk of any virus, whether coronavirus or the flu. So why would you risk the health of someone you like or love or a stranger who happens to walk by you? Is your freedom to wear your mask or not worth it?
Think of social distancing and wearing a mask as drinking or smoking. Yes, we have the legal right to drink or smoke tobacco at a certain age but drinking and driving can kill someone. Second hand smoke can cause cancer. So whose right should take precedence?
I speak from worry about my personal health. My immune system is fragile after almost 2 years of chemo. If I get too sick, I would need to delay chemo giving cancer a good chance to spread some more.
Every person who gets sick enough to spread germs and comes close to me can send me to the hospital and possibly kill me. I cross the street in the neighborhood when walking to avoid someone on the same side as me. I pull up my mask when passing anyone on my walk. I've stopped walking on the bike and hike trail at the park in my neighborhood. Why? Because it's not wide enough to separate me from anyone else using the trail and because not everyone is social distancing or wearing masks.
Wearing a mask or not or social distancing is not a political decision. It's about thinking of others who may not be as healthy as you and who may die because of your decision.
It's not about you but it IS about me and others like me.
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