{"id":805980,"date":"2020-04-02T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-02T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=381305"},"modified":"2020-04-02T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-04-02T18:00:00","slug":"letter-to-the-editor-think-before-you-snicker-at-someone-wearing-a-face-mask","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/letter-to-the-editor-think-before-you-snicker-at-someone-wearing-a-face-mask\/","title":{"rendered":"Letter to the editor: Think before you snicker at someone wearing a face mask"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Today, an older man snickered at my husband for wearing a face mask (that we owned long before all this) to run errands in Breckenridge. To this man and his kindred spirits, I ask you to question what you find humorous.<\/p>\n

I assume that this man is not the kind of person who reads newspapers, but if he did, he would likely see an increased push by experts and a reevaluation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on recommendations around face masks. Masks are thought to provide some protection to the person wearing them and to be very effective if worn by the sick individual. Creating a culture where it\u2019s accepted and normal to wear masks, as it has been for sick people in every other country where I\u2019ve lived even when there wasn\u2019t a global pandemic, can help protect the entire community when not done to the detriment of health care workers who need them.<\/p>\n

Before you laugh at someone for wearing a mask, it\u2019s best to consider what you don\u2019t know about the person wearing it. Perhaps if you knew my husband was a new father of two young girls, it would seem less funny. Or maybe if you knew that his mom started chemo today and will be severely immunosuppressed, you\u2019d find less reason to laugh.<\/p>\n

People across the political spectrum now accept the fact that COVID-19 will cause massive casualties in our country. A number of articles have highlighted the disproportionate number of infections in resort towns like ours. Snickering bully boomers would be wise to recognize they\u2019re the most likely to succumb to this illness and consider putting their toxic false sense of toughness aside, if just for a few months.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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