The Sandusky Sixteen (or So)

Two massive LEFT thumbs up to the sixteen or so Sandusky-area residents, who, in line with America’s storied history of civil protest, marched into a local Kroger store this past week to protest face mask mandates. In so doing, they heroically braved potential confrontations with teenage bag boys and price gun-wielding shelf-stockers, while storming past the yellow floor barricades warning, “Wet Floor.” Because, you know . . . “Don’t tread on me.”

The intentions of this heroic display of noncompliance was to demand their rights 1) to ignore sound science and medical advice and 2) to flaunt the onerous request by public health officials and by the store itself (In April, one of its employees tested positive for the Corona virus) to politely wear a mask while strolling the aisles of their preferred grocery store. The unintended outcome of their action is the possible spread of a virus already responsible for killing nearly 200,000 of their fellow citizens and predicted to cause over 200,000 more by January 1 in a study recently released by the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. The study also warns that the number of dead could be as high as 620,000 should current restrictions (including mask wearing) be eased. Because, you know . . . Science.

For some, the bold display of civil disobedience by the Sandusky 16 (or So) may call to mind the Civil Rights protesters of the sixties, who faced down water cannons in an effort to exercise their equal rights under the law, or the “Bloody Sunday” marchers in Selma, Alabama, or the current protesters in Hong Kong demanding freedom from Chinese governmental oppression. Because, you know . . . which of these pictures below doesn’t belong with the others?

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For others, this act of defiance may be reminiscent of a four-year old who refuses to eat his broccoli because, although it’s good for him, he doesn’t like it, and besides, “You’re not the boss of me!” But what do rule followers know? There’s not a word about common courtesy, much less common sense, in the U.S. Constitution. It says nothing about decency, compassion, or the temporary sacrifice of one’s personal level of comfort for the well-being of others during a global pandemic. But you know . . . Not everything is about you and your rights.

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Masks are hot, uncomfortable, hard to breathe through, and difficult to match with one’s outfits. You know . . . like Ventilators . . . and Graves.

Sometimes, this shit just writes itself.

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