I was walking to my car after teaching and had removed my own mask since I was outside and not near others. As I walked, a young woman, wearing a mask and looking very much like a RISD student (I think, based on my several years of teaching there based on her vivid fashion style and toting of art supplies). She was about 10 feet ahead of me, walking towards me. There were several other people up and down the street, alone and with others wearing masks. This is not an unusual sight there or elsewhere in Providence in my experience.
A young man in a car to my left suddenly shouted loudly and with extreme aggression at the young woman something like "look at this chic, walking around with a mask on when she isn't even with anybody." This was followed by some expletives and grunts of disgust. The woman said nothing and kept walking, so did I. I was not quick to process this because it a) made no sense to me--his level of emotion seemed very out of proportion to the event he witnessed, and b) filled me with anger. As I contemplated yelling back at him and if that would somehow have an adverse impact on the woman in question, the moment for response passed--he drove on out of site. I wished I had formulated my desired response in time, yelling back at him: "maybe you should ask yourself why you care so much about what other people are doing when it has no effect whatsoever on you. Why are you SO angry?" I probably know the answer, and I am 98% sure this would not have led to a reevaluation of his life-choices, but, still, I wish I had said it. It was, especially, his choice to add that she was masked while alone that bothered and perplexed me me. That he said it with SO MUCH rage. It was as if he did not disagree with masking in toto, only what he deemed an overuse of masking. I doubt this woman walks around with a mask on in her home alone or even in all outdoor spaces alone. But, in a city, we pass many on the street, crowds at a space of only a few inches, and many of us on the RISD campus are going quickly from building to building where masks are required--it is sometimes less convenient to remove and replace it than to simply leave it on. The young man's comment accounts for no other reason for her mask than erroneous execution, stupidity. Why are you so angry? Disaffected MAGA supporter? White male rage? Banal bully?
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Discourse in ActionWelcome to my page, where I have decided to record moments that I witness or experience in my daily life that fill me with perplexity, rage, or sadness. Sometimes all three. Not sure what unites these moments (yet) but want to record them either way. Archives |