Those of you in other countries will be saying "yawn, that's old news" but here it's a bit of a shock. For months, we've been told to wear masks on public transport at Level 1, even though they don't work, there was no community transmission and there was no requirement to wear them in restaurants, bars or theatres. The word nonsensical springs to mind.
But today I want to talk about what's been happening here over the last couple of days. Quite frankly, it appalls me.
I was so wrong in my previous post on masks. The police ARE being called for non mask compliance in supermarkets. A friend rang the police to complain about people being unlawfully intimidated and while she was on hold, there was a repeated message that if ringing to report a mask infringement, please stay on the line. Does that make you feel as sick as it makes me? While our PM is paying lip service to being kind, the government rhetoric is amping up the population to be abusive and tale telling without knowing a stranger's personal history.
I am disappointed and heartsick with the government, the willingness of the general public to buy into this nastiness, and the police for going along with it.
Even though it's illegal to deny a person entry to a store if they claim a medical exemption, and it's a violation of the Privacy Act to ask them what their medical condition is - it IS happening. Being private businesses, they have the right to refuse entry, but in this case it's discrimination.
Often the people who cannot wear a mask for health reasons don't have the stamina to fight for their rights (and neither should they have to). So if they have to choose between wearing a mask and suffering the health consequences, or running the gauntlet of abuse by a bunch of strangers, they wear the mask. One story I read yesterday was from someone with a heart condition who made that choice. When she collapsed in store, one staff member helped her. But when she got to the self checkout, having had to take the mask off, she had another staff member screaming in her face. Disgusting.
I've seen a few videos taken by people being approached by police in or outside supermarkets, after they have been called in by staff. While I am horrified that our country has come to this, there are a couple of aspects that I've been thinking about. I noticed that some of them are using NelsonKnight's suggested words "I do not wish to contract with you. I do not consent." But then he said to walk away. They don't. They stay there asking for names, badge numbers, discussing the situation. Um, did NK not make it clear enough that by doing so, you HAVE contracted with them and implicitly given your consent?
But of more concern to me is the effect this is having on the wider public. I fully back anybody's right to claim an exemption if they think they need one, and to take videos to protect themselves. But I also think that when a person appears to just be making a point - no matter how valid that point is - it reinforces the belief that people are faking it, trying it on. Then when staff or police are faced with someone in genuine and obvious distress, that poor person gets the backlash.
I'm not saying "Don't stand up for your rights". I'm not saying to take anyone's shit. But sometimes we need to choose our battles. We need to think "What am I going to achieve with this today?" And we also need to remember that abusing someone for doing their job is not right, on either side.
Another unexpected and saddening side effect of this whole debacle, though maybe we should have anticipated it, is that people are wearing their face masks into dairies (non-kiwis, these are like little convenience stores) and robbing them. Not that this is new, but the offenders being so much harder to identify is making it worse.
Let's end with the Serenity Prayer.
It is most commonly quoted as:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.
If you want to check out my previous post on masks., I talk about whether masks work, are they healthy and what is our legal situation in NZ. As we've seen in the last couple of days, what is legal and what is actually happening may not be the same thing.
