Lawbreakers?
My husband and I had just finished our lunch of a falafel sandwich and shrimp and grits in a small outdoor courtyard at Helio’s Hideaway in Ocracoke, North Carolina. A party of three adults, only one of whom was wearing a face mask, stepped up to the window of the restaurant to place an order. The older man, tall and fair haired, in his late fifties I’d guess, took a seat at a nearby table. He nodded at me and said “You’re breaking the law, you know.”
Astonished, I asked, “I am?”
“You’re not wearing a face mask,” he said with a wry gotcha smile.
Being that he wasn’t wearing one either, I assumed he was attempting to make a joke out of North Carolina’s mask ordinance. Maybe he hoped I’d say “And I’m proud to be breaking this stupid law, too,” (never mind that a mask ordinance isn’t really a “law”) or “Yeah! Don’t tread on me!”
I didn’t. I looked away from him and took a long drink from my water bottle, thinking “what a moron.” I probably I smirked. He didn’t say anything else. And then we left.
Vaccinated
On our drive home to Michigan, we stopped at a gallery/coffee shop in the front of a house so I could get my caffeine fix. More gallery than coffee shop, with a small counter to a kitchen. Empty. I called, “Hello?”
A tall, thin, smiling man walked out from a hall behind me with a black and white chihuahua on his arm.
“Hello. I’m fully vaccinated,” he said, apparently to allay any worries I might have because he wasn’t wearing a face mask (never mind that he didn’t know if I was vaccinated or not.)
He fixed my cappuccino while the doggie stared at me from the chair where he’d been placed. I asked where people on Hatteras Island got vaccines, and if many were willing to get them. He laughed, said “Well, there are hold outs, you know,” and told me how he’d been on the mainland when he’d seen a sign for COVID vaccines. He pulled right over. “The Air Force gave me my shot and set up my second appointment. Moderna. I was glad to get it.”
But what if
I believed him, but later, I wonder if there are people who lie about this. They say “Oh, yeah, I’ve been vaccinated,” so you drop your guard. What if they’re disingenuous, like the man in the courtyard? Yuk, yuk, yuk — only it’s not funny, and the consequences can be deadly.
Some people believe the vaccine is just more COVID “bullshit,” like the owner of the shoe repair shop I visited a few weeks ago? He didn’t wear a mask, and complained bitterly about businesses being shut down in 2020. I would have walked out if I hadn’t needed new orthotics, hadn’t been vaccinated and wearing a mask. I didn’t ask him why he wasn’t wearing one. I really didn’t care. I just wanted to be done with business.
Already people are selling fake vaccine cards online for people who think the cards might help them move around and travel more quickly — or avoid getting vaccinated, according to Vox.
Which is one reason why we still need to wear masks, even as we try to achieve herd immunity through the wonderful miracle of life-saving vaccines. Not everyone believes in COVID-19 or vaccines.
Be safe out there, my friends.
Thank you for visiting Linda’s blog.
Linda K. Sienkiewicz is a writer, poet, and artist.
Learn more about her award winning novel, In the Context of Love.
Learn more about her picture book, Gordy and the Ghost Crab.
Learn more about her poetry chapbook, Security
