One Size Does Not Fit All
I did some traveling on Friday…including doing a talk in the city of Earlham, population 1,410, west of Des Moines. On the way back, I stopped at a couple of stores in Des Moines, and then in my hometown of Toledo, population 2,369.
Add all those stops together…and I can count on one hand the number of people I saw wearing masks…with fingers left over.
My talk was to a group of middle-aged to senior-level folks, with nary a mask to be seen…ditto for the two stops I made in the hometown. I saw one person in a store in Des Moines with one; she appeared to be in the elderly cohort. And I saw another person in another Des Moines store with one; she appeared to have other co-morbidities, including being overweight.
I noted it because I caught a portion of a Twin Cities radio broadcast a few days before where the host was begging people to wear masks when out, indicating his surprise at the number of people who were in a gym, in stores, etc., all without masks. And he’s hardly alone among those in large cities, for whom school and work has still not returned to pre-2020 levels.
COVID is still something to be concerned about, especially if you have certain health conditions. But what does it say that we have such a wide behavioral split in the country, when left to our own devices? It probably means that one-size-fits-all medical treatment, or governmental health policy, is not a good idea for a country like the United States, with its wide diversity in terms of size, population density, attitude, etc.
To be honest, if you asked me to put a mask on, I’d have to try to remember where one was. I think I have a few in my office, but they’ve been sitting there for nearly two years.
As before, I’m not advocating on what you should do regarding masks or shots, for that matter; that should be up to you…after all, your body/your choice and all. But it bears mentioning, given our Iowa common sense behavior, and the control attempts on various issues coming from Washington.
