By Stephen Diener

850 WFTL Contributor and SFL Morning Show Producer

 

We all remember scenes like the picture above. Walking into a store and seeing that mandatory mask sign and wondering to yourself if you should even risk going inside.

I’ll admit it, when covid first started two years ago, I was a little scared and unsure about what to expect when leaving the house, just like so many of you.

In the beginning, I would wear my mask outdoors and even put on gloves when pumping gas. I even washed my fruits and vegetables with dish soap for goodness sake! That level of fear and paranoia did not last very long for me as more and more information about the virus started to trickle in. And as time went on, I realized how silly I was being.

Fast forward two years later and that brings us to today where it now seems that common sense is starting to win over most Americans and industries.

Case in point, the NFL announced earlier this week that they have suspended all covid protocols. Yes, that means that one of the biggest and most profitable company’s in the world is now operating as if it were 2019. Normalcy has fully returned there and that is a very big deal considering how influential they are.

Even those lunatics who are in charge of LA county are getting rid of the mask mandate!

All that being said, you would think that masks might start going the way of the dodo, and for a lot of people they have…including my self.

But the sad truth is that for some, they can’t rid themselves of that piece of cloth or the false sense of security that it brings. They continue to keep themselves trapped under the thumb of paranoia and irrational fear.

This editorial and this message is for the walking contradictions who I see wear a mask, but don’t find it necessary to wear it properly and end up keeping it below their nose.

This is for the guy who I saw pull his mask down one day to smoke a cigarette. This is for the guy who I saw riding his bicycle down my street last week while being double masked.

And last, but certainly not least, this is for people like the guy that I saw riding his motorcycle with no helmet, but of course had on that scientifically proven worthless blue surgical mask. Hey, he may crash and splatter his brains all over the road, but at least he won’t get the ‘rona!

With all that in mind, please don’t take this the wrong way. I understand that there are those who will choose to wear a mask due to a serious medical condition or compromised immune system. It still may not do much, but I at least understand and sympathize with their precautions in that case.

But there are those who I do not and will not sympathize with. For the parents of healthy children who make their kids wear these placebos, you should quite frankly be ashamed of yourselves at this point. The only thing you are accomplishing is creating a fear complex for your kids which will most likely lead to an actual mental health condition, such as OCD.

And that brings me to this sad conclusion for today. So many people, especially those examples that I mentioned, are already suffering from a form of mental illness. The lies of power hungry media and politicians has led to a level of mask psychosis, that for many, will be exceedingly difficult to break away from.

I wish them all health. I pity them and pray for them. And I pray that we will look back on these times and learn from the awful mistakes that were made and that continue to be made.