One was screamed at, another told she’d ‘die soon anyway.’ Readers share mask-shaming stories
Ignacio Aguirre was visiting a Publix in Davie when he was called a “Communist” and a “Fauci puppet” in Spanish by another man for wearing a mask.
“I didn’t say anything and just walked away, while he screamed that I should be ashamed of myself for surrendering to tyranny,” Aguirre said.
One Herald reader, who withheld a name for fear of retaliation, was shamed for asking someone to put on a mask in an apartment building elevator.
The reader said a man entered the building’s elevator while another neighbor rode alongside them. When the person asked him to put on a mask, he replied: “Negative. Good job, Biden.”
“I informed him that, as a healthcare worker, I fight the pandemic on the front lines every day, and he continued to ridicule me,” the Herald reader said.
Such were among the mask-shaming stories Miami Herald readers relayed when the Herald queried people about their experiences with wearing a mask.
DeSantis’ comments to students spark outrage, support
The issue went viral after Florida Gov. DeSantis, speaking Wednesday at the University of South Florida in Tampa to announce $20 million in funding for cybersecurity and IT training opportunities, told high school students standing behind him they should take off their masks, calling their mask-wearing “COVID theater.”
READ MORE: DeSantis tells high school students to remove “ridiculous” COVID masks
Many on social media expressed outrage over DeSantis’ comments, saying he was “bullying,” “harassing,” “barking.” ‘
One post with the DeSantis video garnered over 24,000 comments. At the core of many posts was the students’ right to choose whether they want to wear a mask.
“What happened to that whole thing about ‘my rights?’ ” one person tweeted. “Why is he harassing students who are trying to protect their health and others?”
“Do rights only apply to what Ron wants?” another person wrote on Twitter. “What happened to make your own personal decision? Florida, how do you stand him?”
Others came to DeSantis’ defense, thanking him for standing up for people who don’t believe in masks.
“DeSantis told those kids to take off their masks because he wasn’t willing to give a press conference in front of a row of children being forced to cover their faces for no good reason at all,” read one Twitter post.
Christina Pushaw, the governor’s press secretary, defended DeSantis on Twitter: “I mean, someone had to say it, after 2 years of propaganda that terrified and manipulated young people. Breathe free, feel safe and be happy.”
Even in the past, when rules were stricter due to the high number of new daily COVID cases, mask-wearing blowups happened.
Judith Bishop said when she was out for ice cream on Lincoln Road in mid-2021, she was ridiculed for asking two young people to follow safety rules.
Bishop says the ice cream shop she visited had a sign spelling out its COVID rules, which stipulated that patrons were to wait outside and enter one at a time. After waiting her turn, she entered and placed her order.
A few seconds later, two high school or college-aged girls entered, wearing no masks and breaking the shop’s “one customer at a time” rule.
“They literally swarmed around me like a pack of bees,” she said.
Bishop says she turned to the girls, smiled and asked “a little distance, please.”
The girls responded: “Don’t worry. You’re old and gonna die soon anyway.”
Bishop found the response sad.
“When the epidemic was rampant and kindness mattered, selfishness bordering on cruelty ruled the day.”
What experts say on masks
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as health experts, still advise the usage and usefulness of masks to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
Dr. Aileen Marty, an infectious disease expert with Florida International University’s Wertheim College of Medicine, said policy makers and public health officials should stick to the science when discussing respiratory viruses and how they spread.
Marty said when worn properly, surgical masks and N95 respirators protect both the person wearing the face covering and those around them.
“Since the early 1900s, there have been phenomenal, well done research studies proving the value of masks in reducing respiratory virus transmissions, which is why for years physicians in certain settings have used masks to protect patients and protect themselves from patients,” she said. “I wouldn’t dream of going to see a patient who has active tuberculosis in their room without wearing a mask, and I wouldn’t perform surgery on a patient without wearing a mask because I wouldn’t want to contaminate their wound.
“This is not rocket science. This is bread and butter, well-known facts, and moreover, after the whole controversy started with masks and COVID-19, a plethora of studies have demonstrated the efficacy of a well-worn mask. Obviously, people who wear it as a chin guard, that’s a different story.”
While COVID cases and hospitalizations are receding in Florida, Marty said there are many people who will continue to be at risk despite Americans’ desire that their lives return to normal, including cancer patients in active treatment, bone marrow and organ transplant recipients, people with HIV and others.
“Masks should be encouraged, absolutely, for anyone who has any kind of high risk of getting severe disease, even if they’re vaccinated and boosted,” she said.
This story was originally published March 3, 2022 at 9:51 PM.
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