It’s about those masks.
Occasionally, I get an earful from friends and others about how the requirement that we wear a mask when buying ice cream and soda pop at the grocery store in some way infringes on the constitutional rights of all Americans.
At the same time, I have endured multiple lectures from my kids and others about how and why I need to
wear a mask.
One wonders how they all became experts in constitutional law and public health over the past eight months.
After much thought, I have decided that a mask is a Pot 1 item. That means I wear a mask when I’m at the store or in tight quarters because I can’t control other people, but I can control me.
I’ll explain.
Anyone who has been around me more than ten minutes knows my Three Pot Theory. I learned it from a boss I had in Minnesota. It goes like this.
Everything in the world can be put into one of three pots.
Pot 1 includes everything that I have direct control over. This is a tiny pot. Basically, it includes only me, myself
and I.
Pot 2 includes everything over which I have some influence. While this pot is larger than the first, it is still small and getting smaller. It used to be that I had some influence over the kids, but that ship has sailed.
Pot 3 includes everything over which I have no influence. This pot is huge and includes everything else on the planet. For example, I have zero control over COVID-19, politics, or even my Philadelphia Eagles.
What happens to any and all items in Pot 3 is completely out of my hands, and thank goodness for that. COVID-19 has screwed up everything, politics have spiraled into Crazyland, and the Eagles couldn’t beat my junior high school’s football team.
I thought about this and made a decision. I can fuss about things over which I have no control, or I can spend my time on Pot 1 – me – which I directly control.
This gets me back to masks. Last November I came down with the worst cough I’ve ever had when we were on vacation in Italy. In medical terms, it was a butt-kicker, and I was out of work for two weeks. At one point, I coughed so hard I dropped to my knees.
I doubt it was COVID-19 because of the timing, but believe me, I do not want to deal with anything like that again. Plus, I am in the age range that puts a bulls-eye on my back for COVID-19 and a lot of other illnesses.
That’s why I’m happy to wear mask at the grocery store, church and anywhere I’m in close quarters with others.
Whether this in some way impacts my constitutional rights, I can’t say. I do know that cough I had last year infringed on all kinds of rights, including my right to a good night’s sleep.
But wearing a mask has not stopped the lectures from my kids and others on the radio and television. “You don’t understand,” they say.
In point of fact, I do understand, probably better than they ever will, but they will not stop the lecturing.
I have only one suggestion: They should hand out earplugs with every mask. That way I wouldn’t have to listen to the prattle on both sides of the issue.
Carl Sampson is a freelance writer and editor. He lives in Stayton.
