Stabbings, assaults, hot cups of coffee thrown at people, plus many other forms of violence are some rarely discussed side effects of the COVID-19 virus. People on both sides of the mask-wearing issue, who rarely experience or start a conflict, are confronting and getting in the face of others, feeling emboldened with their stance on the mask or mask-wearing issue.
This post has nothing to do with whether you should or should not wear a mask, but I will place a small wager that the replies to this will back up one of those stances and miss the more significant point I hope some get.
This post has nothing to do with whether you should or should not wear a mask, but I will place a small wager that the replies to this will back up one of those stances and miss the more significant point I hope some get.
Check out this example of mask wearers confronting non-mask wearers.
As a self-defence and violence prevention instructor, I am more interested in the side effects the covid conflict has created.
You have the mask wearers angry at the non-mask wearers and vice versa. Just some reasons people begin these conflicts are.
- They have had a loved one affected by COVID-19 and see not wearing a mask as a sign of disrespect or not caring.
- You have those who deem themselves superior, quoting their “scientific references” as fact but not even understanding the science from either side—or not even researching the science from either side.
- Many are looking for an excuse to begin conflicts under the guise that they give a shit about the topic.
- With some, their lives have been upturned, adding stress from losing a loved one or losing their job or business, and it reaches a boiling point they can no longer control.
You might hear a couple on a park bench wearing their masks, speaking unusually loudly near people not wearing masks. They intend to be heard with their judgements, but failing to realize their superiority projection is most likely to meet with a dirty look at minimum or an escalation of words, or worse, violence.
Then you have the non-mask wearers flaunting how no one will tell them what they can and cannot do. Again making it quite evident through their loud words and body language, they are rebels surrounded by the weak.
In this video, you see the worst-case scenario in which the police had to shoot a man with a knife who had stabbed another person due to a conflict about mask-wearing.
Whether you are a proponent for wearing a mask or not, how about keeping yourself safe however you feel best, but resist the temptation to teach others the lesson you think they need to learn? If one engages you in an honest, respectful conversation, great! But don’t impose it unless you are prepared to experience violence because people are dying from the side effects that COVID-19 has created, not the virus itself.
Where do you see Conflicts escalating due to COVID-19!
Keep SAFE!
Chris Roberts
Managing Director, SAFE International