An open letter to the local anti-masker

Dear Lady who refuses to wear a mask at the grocery store,

I couldn’t help but overhear your dispute with the local grocery store manager about why you need to wear a mask during a global pandemic.

You scream and claim “It’s a free country! I can do what I want,” and “I can’t breathe in it!” while the manager tries to calm you down and get you to put on a mask. You may be saying you can’t breathe with a mask on, but what’s going to happen when you contract Covid-19 because you refused to wear a mask? The survival rate may be high, but 95% of Covid-19 deaths were from the age of 50 and up, and judging by the fine lines and wrinkles that cover your face, you are well up there.

Do you simply choose not to believe in the science and evidence that supports that masks significantly decrease the spread of germs and Covid-19 particles? Or do you only choose to believe in science when someone wants to express who they truly are and you bring it back to what chromosomes they possess? What happened to “It’s a free country, I can do what I want,” the hypocrisy you demonstrate is truly baffling to me at times.

But who am I to judge? Maybe you really can’t breathe under that paper-thin surgical mask that is protecting you from the virus. How dare the government put out a mandatory mask mandate, right? Just keep having those marches through your local target chanting about your freedom to not wear a mask and continue to contract and spread that virus!

All disrespect aside, I truly cannot understand why you refuse to do such a simple thing that will protect you and the others around you? Maybe I have all this anger towards you, because people like you who refuse to wear a mask have prolonged the destruction of my senior year. I didn’t have a junior prom like I always dreamed about. I did not get to cheer on my high school football team for our last season ever, the bleachers weren’t filled with friends and family on my senior night during volleyball. I never got to dress up and attend my last homecoming dance. I was unable to watch my friends play their last season of basketball, and that’s not even the half of it. What was supposed to be the most memorable years of my life have been ripped away from me and every other high school and college student in America. There are consequences for your actions, and we are the ones suffering from it.

Sincerely,

The girl who will never get back her last years of high school