I will start today’s blog by saying I am not in favor of forcing people to wear face masks in the effort to control the mass hysteria surrounding the covid virus. I’m not a doctor, nor have I ever played one on tv, but I can read, and the surrounding controversy concerning this is too difficult to follow for anyone. I mean, we’re told by authorities masks don’t prevent the passing of this virus, then we’re told they are. There are so many opinions out there, it is almost impossible to keep up with how fast they’re changing. And while I don’t believe the masks work, if I see people wearing them, I don’t confront them about it. Live and let live I say.
Now with this being said, it has been a couple of weeks since the nation’s largest retailer decided to enforce a mask only policy while shopping in their store. This was a decision made by the people in positions of leadership within Walmart, and truthfully, it is their right to make such policies. Heck, if they wanted to, they could put up signs saying they will only cater to people wearing grass skirts and it would be legal. It is after all their business, and while forcing people to wear grass skirts would obviously challenge their bottom line, they could do it and there would be nothing any of us could do but wear grass skirts if we want to shop there.
What is totally out of line however, is the jackasses who feel it is their responsibility to accost the employees by yelling and screaming obscenities at them when they are instructed to put on a mask. These people say their rights are being trampled (and I agree) but it is not the ten dollar an hour employee who made up the rules, they are just the unfortunate souls who have the privilege of catching the flack about it. And I sincerely hope they are being recompensed with hazard pay for it.
Having rights does not mean you get to trample on the rights of others. I’m sure Walmart has made this decision less for the health reasons and more about the chances of lawsuits appearing in their mailboxes. I can see it now, the headlines could read, “Man Sues Walmart For Contracting Covid-19 While Shopping For Cat Food”. Don’t think it could happen? Remember McDonald’s changing the temperature of and the documentation on their cups of coffee because a lady in the drive through spilled her’s and got burned? I still don’t think McDonald’s was at fault, but that is another blog for another time. The bottom line is while you may feel your rights are being trampled on, you can choose to not shop at any stores who have implemented this policy. And you don’t have to yell your choice to the person standing at the door not allowing you to enter.
I have made a personal choice not to wear a mask. I do tend to shop at Walmart, so when the mask policy was implemented, I started shopping at Reasor’s. When they went the way of the mask, I went to Warehouse Market. Who knows where I’ll end up next, perhaps fasting? The way to hurt companies that do things you don’t agree with is to stop supporting them with your cash. I will pay a little bit more for something somewhere else to stay true to what I believe. But I don’t go out of my way to tell the employees what I’m doing, that doesn’t do anything but make me feel good about myself, and show them that I’m really an asshole.
So, wear the mask, don’t wear the mask, the decision is yours. Just as it is your decision whether you act like an asshole or not. But we will know the truth, and do probably just what the Walmart employees are doing and laugh at you for showing us who you really are with your decisions.
For the Kingdom and the King, shalom.
All In A Knight's Work 