“Unity is strength, division is weakness.” ——Swahili Proverb

I’m sitting in the waiting room where my mom was prepped for surgery this morning.

If you haven’t been to a hospital since the pandemic started, to put it lightly, they are taking the virus very seriously.

Everyone inside the hospital is mask clad and up until recently, no visitors were allowed in with patients. Luckily things have relaxed enough to allow 1 visitor (me) in, to support my mom through this uncertain time.

I’m thankful for that.

In return for this freedom, I must wear a mask the whole time I’m here. I can’t leave this room, and if I do, I’ll have to leave the hospital and will not be able to return.

Who said living through a pandemic would be easy? It’s uncomfortable. It’s inconvenient. Big deal.

I’m happy to follow procedures in order to be with my mom and keep her/everyone else in the hospital (including the workers) safe and protected.

But is it overkill?

Having a piece of cloth draped across my face seems like a pretty easy way to stop the spread of a deadly disease.

Other countries are doing it. In fact the research suggests that counties who slowed the curve (mostly Asian countries) did so by implementing mandatory masks while in public. 

Still, as I’m writing this, we are days away from the July 4th “reopening” of Indiana. All while states across the country see spikes in virus cases–some are back peddling on their reopening plans, others like say, Illinois, Michigan, and Kentucky, have made it a requirement for residents to wear masks while out in public.

Shouldn’t this have been the policy from the beginning? Shouldn’t we have used every tool at our disposal to confront and destroy the virus?

Instead we went about it half heartedly——just long enough for the conspiracy theories to heat up and subsequently boil over on social media.

The lines have been drawn, which side are you on?

Mask vs. Anti-mask

Real Virus vs. Media Conspiracy

Equality vs. Well, what’s the opposite of equality?

How did something as straight forward as a pandemic become a point of political polarization?

America needs to change its slogan to “land of the teams, home of the shamed”.

Because no matter what your beliefs, you better pick a side, there’s no middle ground in America. Once you share your thoughts, you better be ready for the person on the opposing team to shame you for what you think/believe. Trust me, they’re waiting with an arsenal of response memes to make you feel like an uninformed doofus.

There’s nothing social about social media. The empathic disconnect that I’ve seen just on my own feed alone is appalling. There’s no way people would spout out comments so carelessly to a person’s face. There’s no context. There’s no empathy. Just cold ideological arguments that do nothing but further the divid. What good is this doing for our society?

Ronald Reagan once talked about how great it would be if aliens landed on earth, because it would mean we would all come together as humans and unite. Regardless of the circumstances, we would be one human race. No more countries, race, borders, backgrounds, baggage–just earthlings

One would think a pandemic would have a similar effect on humanity.

“There is beauty and power in unity. We must be united in heart and mind. One world, one people.”  ——Lailah Gifty Akita

But instead, we are arguably more divided than ever, as rioters fill the streets, infection rates rise, and people argue about the effectiveness/utility of a facial garment.

If we can’t unite over a common enemy, what hope do we have?

We are blessed with an incredible amount of freedom in America. With that freedom comes an incredible amount of individual responsibility to our fellow earthlings.

“Remember upon the conduct of each depends the fate of all.”  ——Alexander The Great

The government shouldn’t need to mandate masks. We should wear them as a kind gesture to our fellow earthlings.

Be kind to one another. It’s that simple.