It Begins: Isolation, Fear, and Masks Make People Mean

An ice cream parlor in Massachusetts closed one day after re-opening because customers treated his employees like dirt.

Owner Mark Lawrence told Fox25 Boston, via Fox News:

“People have forgotten how to treat other human beings in the six or seven weeks that they’ve been confined to their homes,” he told the station. “They have no clue how to respect other human beings.”

After just one day, Lawrence closed his shop. One of his best employees quit because customers were so rude.

I told you so.

Masks and Social Isolation Produce a Mean Society #

On April 17, Hennessy’s View explained how masks would affect society:

People wearing masks are meaner, more selfish, less moral, and more violent. And I’m not talking about people who don masks with the intent of behaving badly. I’m talking about otherwise decent people who change when they put a mask on.

Add to the psychological effects masks (making wearers feel anonymous and others feel threatened), the COVID-19 lockdowns have added two additional anti-social triggers:

1. We have pushed into social isolation for six to eight weeks.
2. We have been indoctrinated to view everyone else as dangerous, even if they look and feel just fine.

When you put all this together, you will get rude, belligerent, mean people. There’s no way around it.

Defy the Experts #

Experts are usually wrong, so following expert opinion is about the worst thing you could do. Instead, as Nassim Nicholas Taleb advises, listen to your grandmother.

Instead of hiding out in your basement waiting for the grim reaper to materialize through your locked door, go out, get some fresh air and sunshine, patronize the small businesses with the courage to stay.

To avoid infection and to prevent spreading disease, wash your hands, cover your mouth with cough or sneeze or yawn, chew with your mouth closed, and smile.

Everything you need to know about reasonable risk avoidance, your grandmother told you when you were three. And her advice, unlike the experts', has withstood the test of time.

Happy Mother’s Day #