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I’m gonna go off on anti-maskers and car culture a bit. Because I think they’re the same phenomenon.
Car culture is, at its core, about never having to experience discomfort. Too hot out? No big, the car has AC. Raining? It’s a ten-second walk to the car, I’ll deal.
People who reject car culture, people who can, y’know, walk places, ride a bike, wait for a bus, etc, are used to dealing with a little more daily discomfort.
When you get around under your own power, sometimes it doesn’t always feel great. Carrying groceries up a hill, getting your shoes wet, etc.
Same thing with transit. A wait for the bus on a hot day, standing on a crowded train when you really want to take a load off, all that.
So when you ask people outside of car culture to wear a mask, they’re like, “no big!” Because they’ve inured themselves to minor discomfort.
People who have lived their WHOLE LIVES in cars, otoh, don’t experience this. They never walked to school, never waited at a bus stop in the rain. They’ve been pampered, day in and day out.
And that’s a LOT of people, in the United States. Where, not coincidentally, we have a LOT of people who can’t be bothered to wear a mask in a pandemic.
Just something I thought about last night, while walking to the store, in the snow, wearing a mask.
