To Mask or Not to Mask? That is the Question!
It is fairly safe to say that few people living in the year 2019 would have predicted that 2020 would be the year of the mask wars. But any casual perusal of current media leaves little doubt that the war is here. To mask or not to mask?
The purpose of this particular blog is not to give you any definitive answer from medicine or science. In fact if anyone is entirely honest, there are plenty of diatribes on both sides, espousing the pros and cons of “my side” and “the wrong side.” The only comment I would leave here is that I am hoping that most of my readers will realize that media outlets are not in the truth business. They are in the entertainment business. There is plenty of raw date out there, but it isn’t the media’s job to break it down for you and put it into a usable report that makes sense. It is their job to entertain you and sell commercials so they can stay in business. You can arrive at a knowledge of the truth, but you will have to do the work of examining the data for yourself.
But as for masks, this is an issue that affects businesses quite heavily. There are businesses that require masks, businesses that strongly suggest masks, and businesses that feel personal freedom is more important than any level of personal security (real or perceived). So who is right? My answer will likely make everyone angry, because I will say that ALL sides are right! A business owner has the right to run his or her business in the manner that they see fit. If they want to require masks to come on their premises and interact with their people, they have a perfect right to do so. And if they feel that masks are an overstatement of security and don’t want to require their customers to wear them, they have a perfect right to do that also.
If customers don’t agree with the mask policy of a business, they have a perfect right to NOT shop there. There are plenty of virtual shopping options available and it is possible to avoid personal contact with nearly everybody if a person wants to put some effort into it. And this is my main point! Mask policies shouldn’t be policies that cause conflict and war. As with any other policy that a business has, if you like it, then go ahead and shop there. And if you don’t like it, then go ahead and shop somewhere else. In a capitalistic society like ours, the shopping opportunities are endless and you can eventually find a place to spend your money with an organization that makes you happy and comfortable—whatever your comfort level is.
This is America! The home of the free! The mask war has to be the dumbest war ever. Quit fighting it!
One last note on this subject. Put your policy on your website and make it easy for your customers to know about your mask policy upfront. They will choose to shop with you or reject you, but easy access to information will take the drama out of the situation.
Mike Albright
President
Dynamic Business Concepts