The Need For People to Help Themselves When The Government Fails

 Few of those who read this will recall the way we used to dress in America. The change is as drastic as any of the other revolutions we have seen in America over the last third of the 20th century where we recognize the evil treatment of black Americans and enacted the Civil Rights Act; the mistreatment of women which was remedied by Title IX prohibiting discrimination against them by anyone receiving federal financial assistance; and the acceptance of and equal treatment of LGBTQ folk that came about after the Stonewall demonstrations where we were told: “we’re not going to take it anymore.”

Look at photos of men back in the fifties who are outside their houses. Almost all of them are wearing hats or scully caps or some other head covering. No self-respecting adult man would leave the house without his fedora. Then there was the understanding that women and girls wear head coverings when in church or when dressed up. Some may recall the Easter Parades with women wearing their garish hats and bonnets – which we see presently at the now suspended Kentucky Derby.

As a teenager hanging around the neighborhood with other guys we always wore long pants winter, fall, spring or summer. One day during the summer I gained possession of a pair of Bermuda shorts similar to the ones shown in the above photo. I have no idea now how or why they fell into my hands. I then steeled up my nerves and decided to wear them up to the corner. I was subject to much derision and laughed at. No one thought it appropriate.

The corner I spent a lot of time at was Sydney Street and Savin Hill Avenue. The buses leaving Savin Hill station would turn slowly passing by. The cat calls at me from the buses were frequent from other teenagers, boys and girls. I persisted. For weeks no one joined me.

One day a group of us went to Hampshire Beach for a weekend. One of my best buddies opened his suitcase and out came Bermuda shorts. He said he would not wear them at home but would on vacation. Others soon followed. Eventually others hanging around began to wear them. Not too long afterward they became common wear.

Today in America there are few who wear masks. Isn’t it time, especially during this pandemic, that we start doing this. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has suggested we make our own masks. They won’t be as effective as a surgical mask which captures 97%, but a vacuum cleaner bag captures 95%, a dish cloth 83%,cotton blend shirt (74%) and a 100% cotton shirt, 69%.  A double layer dish towel is as effective as a surgical mask. This though is hard to breathe through. Recommended was a pillowcase or cotton T-shirts.

I would urge everyone to make homemade masks. If we all begin to wear them outside others will follow. We will be protecting ourselves and protecting others.

Please become a member of  the Gloves, Eyewear And Mask Society (GEAMS) during this pandemic. GEAMS will agree not to go outside without protecting themselves by wearing homemade masks. some type of eye wear such as sun glasses and gloves. Join now by following @MattCon89697180.

 

10 Comments

  1. I wonder what immunity a survivor has against a second infection? Perhaps, it’s like measles or chicken pocks, you are immune to any further attack. Who’s a doctor out there? Speak up.

    • Khalid:

      It is supposed to be like the flu. Once a vaccine is created (if ever) you’ll have to get it every year to keep up your immunity. But like the flue getting it does not prevent you from getting it again.

      • Ma-sha- Alla. That’s discouraging. Looks like bad news for boomers (me!!!). Could be Nature’s Malthusian solution for human over population of the planet. Maybe, Glorious Leader will get the bug and go to his maker on Easter Sunday. Folks can only hope and pray’

  2. The Igbo peoples of Nigeria venerate the masks used in their religious observations.The wearer of the mask becomes the mask, or, rather one with the deity, expressed by the mask. Jim Carrey’s film “Mask” is a comic takeoff on the dead serious African concept of spirit masks.

  3. When the tide goes out, the hats do sprout.

  4. Florida has a curious law under Chapter 876, “CRIMINAL ANARCHY, TREASON, AND OTHER CRIMES AGAINST PUBLIC ORDER”:

    “876.12 Wearing mask, hood, or other device on public way.—No person or persons over 16 years of age shall, while wearing any mask, hood, or device whereby any portion of the face is so hidden, concealed, or covered as to conceal the identity of the wearer, enter upon, or be or appear upon any lane, walk, alley, street, road, highway, or other public way in this state.
    History.—s. 2, ch. 26542, 1951.”

    https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2011/876.12

    Why is this? It appears that at the time there was a problem with organized groups such as the KKK who used masks and hoods to conceal their identities as hey terrorized Blacks, Catholics, Jews and others.

  5. William M. Connolly

    And remember Joe Biden’s immortal words in response to Sarah Haines when she asked, ““Are you at all concerned, as Trump said, that we cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself?”
    Joe replied: “We have to take care of the cure, that will make the problem worse no matter what, no matter what.”

    Do you or do you not agree with Joe Biden?

  6. William M. Connolly

    Matt: Here’s what I found:

    I went on the CDC website and found no recommendation that everyone wear surgical masks. I did find a recommendation that nurses wear makeshift masks when there is a shortage of surgical masks or n-95 respirators. (See below.)

    From a USA today report, March 23, 2020: “The CDC further advises that individuals who are not sick do not need to wear a facemask unless caring for someone who is ill.”

    From the World Health Organization’s Web Site (represents 194 countries):
    • if you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with suspected 2019-nCoV infection.
    • Wear a mask if you are coughing or sneezing.
    • Masks are effective only when used in combination with frequent hand-cleaning with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.
    • If you wear a mask, then you must know how to use it and dispose of it properly.

    From an expert:
    “It seems kind of intuitively obvious that if you put something—whether it’s a scarf or a mask—in front of your nose and mouth, that will filter out some of these viruses that are floating around out there,” says Dr. William Schaffner, professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University. The only problem: that’s not effective against respiratory illnesses like the flu and COVID-19. If it were, “the CDC would have recommended it years ago,” he says. “It doesn’t, because it makes science-based recommendations.”

    “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says nurses can use bandanas and scarves as makeshift masks when caring for COVID-19 patients — “as a last resort” “The agency says in the next sentence that the homemade masks’ capability to protect health care providers against the coronavirus-caused disease “is unknown.”

    And from MEDICALNEWSTODAY (3/23/2020): “CORONAVIRUS MYTHS EXPOSED.”

    MYTH 7. Face masks protect against coronavirus.

    Healthcare workers use professional face masks, which fit tightly around the face, to protect them against infection. However, disposable face masks are unlikely to provide such protection.
    As these masks do not fit neatly against the face, droplets can still enter the mouth and nose. Also, tiny viral particles can penetrate directly through the material.
    However, if someone has a respiratory illness, wearing a mask can help protect others from becoming infected.
    “There is very little evidence that wearing such masks protects the wearer from infection,” Dr. Ben Killingley, Consultant in Acute Medicine and Infectious Diseases at University College London Hospital in the U.K., explains.
    “Furthermore, wearing masks can give a false sense of reassurance and might lead to other infection control practices being ignored, e.g., hand hygiene.”
    The WHO recommend that people who are caring for someone with suspected COVID-19 should wear a mask. In these cases, wearing a mask is only effective if the individual regularly washes their hands with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.
    Also, when using a mask, it is important to use it and dispose of it properly.”

    CONCLUSION: IF YOU’RE SICK, STAY HOME; IF YOUR SICK (coughing) AND MUST GO OUTSIDE, WEAR A MASK. IF YOU’RE HEALTHY, YOU DON’T NEED TO WEAR A MASK, and we all should follow local health authorities and CDC recommendations. For now, and for the next two weeks in Massachusetts, we stay at home, except to shop for food and pharmaceuticals and to go for walks.

    Live. Respect life. Don’t worry. Act rationally, not fearfully.

  7. Decades ago teenagers in Charlestown were trend setters. They always wore masks when entering banks. Purely as an anti contagion device. 2. Is a fetus’ life more important than a grandmother’s? No. But it isn’t less important as Planned Parenthood and the Democrats think. All life is sacred/

  8. Hats for men went out for good with JFK, who was glamorously bare headed, or so it seemed at the time.