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Letter from the Editor Dear Reader, I’m coming to you from a different place this week. Physically, I’m three time zones away from Michigan. And socially and spiritually, I’m closer to a place called “normal.”
My second COVID vaccine dose was my trigger to resume traveling – partially to rekindle my wanderlust, but in big part as a reward for 14 months of sacrifices and lost life experiences.
I’m enjoying the break and the taste of what used to be. But I am also sensing that “normal” without quotation marks may be as elusive as booking a getaway to Brigadoon.
Loosened social restrictions have tempered political and philosophical firestorms a bit, but there are many reminders that COVID is still a threat, and, in a real way, that the pandemic wasn’t just a health crisis – it also spread distrust and division.
In the airports, and inside businesses that have clear rules (and signage) for masks, compliance is very high and I saw no pushback. It seems when the incentive is high – to get away on vacay, or to get into that trendy restaurant – ideological objections take a back seat.
But in the locale where I’m vacationing, mask use is very low in outdoor areas, or any area that does not require one. That’s not necessarily a problem on the whole. In fact, more than anything it’s a bit of an inevitable conundrum.
The masses have been encouraged to get vaccinated so we can knock down COVID transmission, move toward herd immunity, and get back to a semblance of the public life we once knew.
Vaccination proportions have increased in Michigan in a way that prompts more freedom for vaccinated people to gather indoors and in groups without masks. With that, a new twist has emerged that is going to continue to vex us.
Fact #1: Under new guidelines, vaccinated people increasingly are allowed to shed the masks and move about freely in society. Fact #2: Surveys show that unvaccinated people are less likely to wear masks in public settings than vaccinated people. Fact #3: The main places people who are not related to one another are gathering are businesses, such as restaurants and retail stores. That’s putting a burden squarely on those business owners and employees.
Questions that are begged: Who’s going to confront anyone not wearing a mask? Even if that seems called for, will anyone be better for it? What proof is anyone required to show to get on with their lives, vaccinated or not? And finally: How hard do we have to work to protect people who don’t want the vaccine?
So, yes, we’re still some distance from normal. And in that paradigm, it’s coming down to matters of trust and personal self-care.
It doesn’t help that the person setting the standards for a return to unmasked public mixing is violating her own words and mandates. (I am looking at you, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer – this time, and this time). That’s certainly not going to encourage anyone who’s on the fence about making more personal sacrifices.
She’s a high-profile example of why it’s folly to think 100 percent of humans will do the right thing 100 percent of the time, or that they will always fall on the side of delaying personal gratification for the collective good.
We’re on the honor system, folks. Just like we always have been, just in a more in-your-face way (or is that, on-your-face?).
When I am driving my car, I know that the great majority of other drivers pose little to no risk to me. I also know that some percentage of other drivers on the road are distracted, inebriated or both.
I also get into my car willingly, buckle my seat belt and know that I need to remain alert and aware to minimize risks to me and others.
Most people are well-meaning. I don’t distrust everyone else, but I do the best I can to make good decisions for myself in order to keep living my life. Was it a good decision to hang around airports, sit on full airplanes, and go into public settings on vacation this week?
I can only say this: With Pfizer in my cells, a smile under my mask and soul-nourishing scenery outside my window, it was for me.
Editor's note: I value your feedback to my columns, story tips and your suggestions on how to improve our coverage. Let me know how MLive helps you, and how we can do better. Please feel free to reach out by emailing me at editor@mlive.com.
John Hiner Executive Editor Vice President of Content Mlive Media Group
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