How did we let it get to this?

Over the weekend, a man assaulted a clerk at a Leander HEB store because the groceries he placed on the conveyor was over the limit the store imposed on meat purchases.

The limit was five packages of meat. He had seven. He got mad when she wouldn’t let him check out with that much. He threw packages of steak and lettuce at the young woman, then stormed off.

At least he didn’t spit on her. Or wipe his nose on her smock. Or shoot her.

Yeah, that’s happened, more than once in this fine country, and at least one man is dead as a result. A security guard wouldn’t let a customer in a Dollar General without a face mask. So, the customer got angry. She left, then came back in the company of her son who shot the security guard in the head.

Then there were those demonstrations of civil disobedience featuring people dressed in cammo and toting long arms into state capitol buildings screaming their unmasked frustration and spittle into the faces of police officers.

Social media is swimming with examples of what I can only describe as childish outrage at guidelines established to let us open back up safely. People chafe at having to wear a mask or keep any sort of social distance. Many refuse to wear one and loudly denounce any business that insists customers do so.

When one of our reporters took a look around our area, he was appalled at how few people wore masks — maybe 25% of those he saw wore them.

In general, Texans take this pandemic seriously and aren’t quite sure we’re ready to open it all back up. In general, Texans support continued efforts to slow the spread. That’s according to a UT/Texas Tribune from late last month.

But, when you start parsing the poll results by partisanship, it is obvious that folks on the right of the spectrum are less than supportive, to put it mildly. That’s played out on social media, which often the only measuring stick we have for local public opinion as our reporters have been told to keep their distance.

If social media was sometimes toxic before this struck, it can be positively vile now. The way some people refer to those who aren’t ready to go back to work or insist on wearing a mask when they do go out … or businesses that enforce masks and other measures for the protection of their customers and staff … well, I don’t know how they sleep at night.

People who prefer the safety of home and go out only behind a mask are labeled as whiners and scaredy-cats. Wearing a mask makes you weak. Your mask infringes on my liberty and I’ll never again darken the door of a business that forces me to wear one.

And, thus, this pandemic has devolved into just another particularly viscous partisan mess.

Here’s the thing. We’re experimenting with how much we can open while also protecting our population against a spike. Partial capacity, social distancing and face masks are part of that strategy. If we can keep it together, if we can maintain that distance, protect others by wearing a mask and help businesses enforce guidelines, we can open up more of the economy.

If, on the other hand, we over-crowd theaters and restaurants, ignore those practices which have proven somewhat effective, and shame (or assault) those who try to do this right thing, we will see a huge spike of new cases and hospitalizations come the first of June.

I’m not sure what happens after that but it brings to mind a meme I’ve seen: The idea behind staty-at-home was not to stop the spread. It was slow it down to make sure that when you catch it, there will be a hospital bed for you.

This crisis could have united us against a common foe. Instead, it revealed just how deep the partisan divide truly is.

How did we let it get to this?

Author: The Ragged Edge

Old school print journalist trying to make it in a digital world. View all posts by The Ragged Edge