All the talk about enforcement-schmenforcement forgets about the most important place to be careful about wearing masks a place where most people in the country, including myself, can't manage without. Nearly all other sites where COVID goes wild can be avoided – I can buy my silly clothes at a local shop, without going to the mall; I can opt to avoid huge concerts by singers and passing stars, and weddings – even the ones that are most worth it – I can choose not to attend. But I can't avoid using public transportation, because without it, how will I get to work? Fly on my broom? And there, on the bus, the entire range of people who avoid wearing masks are to be found, with excuses that can't be believed.
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It starts with the people who wear a mask over their mouth alone. (You don't breathe from the nose. During the Gulf War, they explained how to drink water through masks – they couldn't put together a little PSA for a pandemic that explains that masks should be worn over the mouth and the nose, and that covering the mouth only doesn't do anything?) We go on to those who spend three stops digging around in their bag for their mask, and finish with the ones who just shoot you a twisted-dismissive-ignoring look when you politely ask them to put a mask on. I won't even discuss the hardcore, who take off their masks when they need to sneeze, then replace them. You'll say, just talk to the driver and have him ask them to wear masks. Well – laugh or cry? One driver told me, "Today it's dangerous to tell people to put on a mask."
Usually, I have no problem walking the seven kilometers (4.3 miles) from home to work, but this summer, 10 minutes of walking in a heat wave turns me into a puddle. There is no wise counsel. A few times, I've gotten off a bus that has suddenly filled up with bare-faced passengers and waited for the next one. Sometimes, I've taken three different buses a few stops – sadly, a technique that doesn't work for intercity trips. I've already started playing a new game – ranking passengers' mental status by the bus line: on the 54, the vast majority wear masks, while on the 52, masks are only partially worn, and the 1 gets a perfect germ score.
So amid the endless talk about Ben-Gurion Airport and policies about Israelis returning from abroad, and before drastic decisions are made about closing synagogues on the holiday or preparations are made to "bribe" school principals to allow their students to be vaccinated, and of course before we are locked down for extended period, perhaps the decision makers, who obviously get around in their private, air-conditioned cars, should think a little about "ordinary" people and start enforcing mask policy on public transportation? A few inspectors and some fines could be wonderfully effectively, just like they are effective in ensuring that people pay the fare.
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