What I want to yell at my classmates
Fall semester recently started at my university. They dropped the mask mandate for classrooms over Summer, now they're only required in the student health center. After a summer of relative peace in student housing and taking online asynchronous classes, I am once again inundated with blatant social murder when I step out of my apartment. The desire of unmaskers to live in the past is so strong that they've made themselves collaborators in eugenics.
I want to scream at them that ¡THERE’S A PLAGUE, KILLING PEOPLE EVERY DAY! OUR PEERS ARE DYING OF HEART ATTACKS AND STROKES CAUSED BY COVID ORGAN DAMAGE AT THIS VERY MOMENT!! WEAR A GODDAMN RESPIRATOR, I’M BEGGING YOU!!! IF NOT FOR ME, THAN FOR YOURSELF!!!! But I know that few, if any, would listen. Even fewer would change their behavior. So I'm screaming into the void here.
I'm not asking people to become hermits. I'm not even asking them to give up large gatherings like concerts. I'm asking them to put a piece of electrostatic fabric on their face when they leave the house, just like they put on shoes. The bar is on the floor, and the overwhelming majority of people are tripping over it.
There is a smidge of hope, though. Uni housing residents got an email over Fake Labor Day weekend that reminded students of the current COVID surge, and included the recommendation to wear a mask when near crowds. This was suprisingly based, as I'm used to seeing no mention of masks and only the toothless "wash your hands" instructions.