It’s December 1. COVID-19 has been infecting humans for almost a year. In that year it has killed almost 1.5 million people, which is about the population of Calgary. I’m not about to list statistics; I can’t be the only one who is beyond sick of that. Besides, in this age of ultra-information, you can find and skew any statistic you want to meet your opinion. And while that may be a practice that many, including myself, are guilty of, it’s an insult to our own intellects. But it’s also a really important coping mechanism. You can be proud of your coping mechanisms, but don’t make others feel small because of them.
A woman recently got called out on BC Ferries’ Instagram page for voicing that it was “sad” to see people being told to wear masks on the outside deck of the boats. As someone who will happily take any small step I can to get out of this pandemic as fast as we can, my first reaction was along the lines of “WTF?”
And it wasn’t just me: people jumped all over her on Instagram, calling her an anti-masker. Her response certainly made my thoughts stop in their tracks.
“I was both [sic] in communist Czechoslovakia,” she said, “so I choose not to believe and obey everything ‘the experts’ are propagating.”
I mean… fair.
A person’s viewpoint often depends on things we can’t possibly know anything about unless they choose to volunteer information, as this person did. There’s a chance a person with anti-mask beliefs is just being selfish, but it’s also possible they have very good, solid reasons that are worth listening to; the former tends to be more convenient to believe. Let me get something clear: anyone who reads these weekly letters to students will know that I support anything, be it masks, distancing, or lockdown, to help contain this virus and get us back to a healthier life as quick as possible. But how you react to the opposition is key to maintaining civil human respect, even if it may seem like they’re not deserving of that respect.
Today, what I pose to you is this: in this post-Trump era where respect has been forgotten about in some social sectors, it’s irrelevant whether or not a person’s views are deserving of our time, how bulletproof their argument is, or what they make us think. We can still give them respect, an ear, and a smile.
If a person is yelling at you and you remain calm, they will eventually do one of two things: leave, or calm down to meet your energy.
Be a trailblazer, an empath, a thinker, because those are the people in the world—and at Camosun—who are going to help us get back on track in every needed way.