On a scale of 1 to 10,
how irritated do you get when you see people walking down the street without a
mask?

I mean, it’s been over
six months since the pandemic hit us, and with millions of people dead and
hospitals flooded with patients and medical queries, you’d assume that by now
people would care – that people would give a damn to all the SOPs carefully crafted
by the World Health Organization and the government.  You would assume that they know better and
that we should simply abide by the rules. And how much are they really asking
us to do? Are these precautions really that difficult to follow? Do you think
fighting for air to breathe is easier than wearing a facemask? At least in
America, this seems to be the case.

Yes, it’s true that
many cities and countries have eased the lockdown and are moving towards a normal
life. However, would it be responsible to completely disregard the precautions
considering we still don’t have a vaccine and thousands of people are still
getting infected on a daily basis? Nobody certainly thinks so.

Every time you go out to
run errands or just stroll around the park with your dog, you must have seen people either not
wearing a mask – or if they do wear it, it’s hanging on their neck where it’s
really of no use. I understand that the weather is getting warmer by the day
and the heatwave can make the mask really uncomfortable. People with sensitive skin
can get rashes, they make your spectacles fog up, and they essentially make
eating, talking and drinking bizarre. Some facemasks are poorly fitted and some
muffle up your voice.

But look at it this
way: We don’t have a choice – and if we think that we do then we’re making the
wrong one.

See, one in four people
are apparently infected by the virus, and out of these, many people are
asymptomatic. When you don’t show any symptoms, instead of being a risk to your
own health, you put others in danger. First of all, you won’t even know that
you’re a threat to somebody else. Then people with poor immunity will be the
first in line to be your victims – and God forbid if anyone of them dies!

Another trend that is normally noticed is that people are politicizing the masks. How ridiculous
does that sound? How can a face mask that is meant to protect you from a fatal
infection limit your freedom? It’s a death wish.

The initial response to
such carelessness was to shame people. However, Tony Bravo has an opposite point
of view.

“Our brains can want to punish or shame people
who aren’t following the rules. That never gets people on your side. The thing
you can do is control yourself and do everything you can to protect yourself.”

So now all we can do is
be empathetic. Maybe they’re not wearing a mask because it makes breathing
almost impossible for them or maybe they’re fighting any other underlining
disease.

You, on the other hand, can follow all the SOPs
and if they come closer and try to break the six feet distance, you can politely
ask them to take a step back. That sounds cool, right?

You should do the same!