A woman calls her husband, knowing his drive takes him across the Golden Gate Bridge. “Harold, I want you to be careful. The news says there’s a driver heading in the wrong direction on the bridge.” The man responds, “One driver!? Heck, there’s hundreds of ‘em.” I was irresistibly reminded of that joke when I read a Facebook thread about flying with masks because of the risk of COVID. And no, I wasn’t visiting old threads from 2020. This was a thread from three days ago.
I can’t put the thread up in all its glory because it’s not a public account. For the same reason, I’ve changed names to protect the ignorant and altered the language somewhat so no one searches for it. I can assure you, however, that the thread I’ve created below accurately reflects the real Facebook conversation.
“Jane”: I’m at the airport, and I’m the only one wearing a mask. Do you think I’d be safe if I took it off?
Friend 1: I always wear my mask whenever there’s a crowd.
Friend 2: You’re smart to keep your mask on.
Friend 3: I noticed the same thing when I traveled while wearing my mask.
Friend 4: It’s really sad that more people aren’t masking.
Friend 5: My doctor told me to mask up on planes years before COVID.
Friend 6: I don’t care what they say. I don’t trust the air on airplanes.
Friend 7: I had the same experience of being the only masked person.
Friend 8: I always wear a mask when I fly or at work. Funnily enough, though, I don’t wear one when I go to Florida.
During the height of the COVID panic, Jane wrote posts indicating that she got tested weekly for COVID, despite having had multiple shots.
Every one of the people who commented is a college graduate. All of them would describe themselves as well-read and well-informed as long as the information comes from NPR, the Washington Post, the New York Times, MSNBC, etc. As their reading material indicates, they’re all fanatically Democrat.
Nevertheless, not a single one of them appears to know that a rigorous meta-study analyzing the data from worldwide COVID-era studies revealed that masks make no difference to COVID’s spread. It doesn’t matter what kind of mask; none of them work against COVID. We conservatives figured this out early because the virus is so small that masks are the equivalent of a chain link fence to a mosquito. But ardent Democrats still don’t know.
Likewise, they clearly disdain the data showing that airplane air, because it’s so aggressively filtered, along with bringing in very fresh air from 30,000 feet up, is cleaner than the air down on the ground, where we work and play.
On the one hand, the Facebook post gave me a good laugh because it was so far from reality and so deeply paranoid about normal life. On the other hand, though, it’s a very concerning post. As I noted, the people I mentioned are all educated and stay abreast of the news. They’re also gainfully employed. Many of them have families, and some even have positions of influence.
In other words, these people are the Democrat mainstream. Their fear of any risk is what drives their politics. They are obsessively concerned about their safety, and they believe that the best government is one that is just as concerned, right down to regulating the smallest minutiae of American life.
When I look at a post like that, it baffles me how America can ever return to normal. Between this kind of paranoia and gender madness (which they all respect), normal seems very far away. Way too many of them are driving in the wrong direction.