Freedumbers mad at me for wearing masks

[Tribetime]

Not only do they not want to wear masks they're mad at me for wearing mine. I have been vaccinated butts I have an upcoming operation in a few weeks and either way I don't feel safe without wearing the mask. How am I in fringing on their rights by me wearing a mask it just never ends.

[Blues Heron]

1. Its cognitive dissonance

their brains can't compute that people are trying to protect themselves from a deadly virus when they've told themselves it's a hoax.

[griffi94]

10. I think that's part of it.

However, my long experience with RWNJs tells me that a lot of the reason is this.
If you're doing something a different way than their accepted way, they feel like you're telling them that they're wrong.
Even if you didn't say a word.

An example of this phenomenon was when family members would always tell me that if I didn't like how things were
in the deep red state I was born in, that I should move. When I moved to a blue state, they were angry. By leaving, I was implying that
they were doing things wrong. It's never enough for them to get their way, you have to remain subjugated to their opinions.

[Diamond_Dog]

16. That's very insightful and true.

[jaysunb]

23. +1 nt

[Prof. Toru Tanaka]

30. I think you hit the nail on the head!

[flying rabbit]

32. True.

Well said.

[TheBlackAdder]

42. We're for Personal Freedumb--Just OUR Personal Freedumb! We Order You to Take off that Mask, NOW!

[FarPoint]

2. I hear you...

What comes to my mind/ concerns...what will happen to the school children who are told properly to wear a mak by parents???? I believe they will be met with ongoing harassments', bullied and ultimately infected.

[MustLoveBeagles]

17. That worries me

That children won't wear masks simply to avoid being bullied and ostracized by their peers.

[FarPoint]

19. I see this coming like a thunderstorm

Not much said about it now but I believe we may later get some traumatic event stories...

[Politicub]

3. Do you live in a small town?

My folks live in a small town, and, when I visited, I felt like people at the grocery store were staring daggers at me for masking.

Plus, I was carrying my man-purse. Masculinity is very fragile there, apparently. And a purple mask, which I had made. And I don't think they like men wearing shorts there or something. I was breaking so many taboos that I never think about in the city.

I joked with my mom that I should have said, "Hello. I'm here from the democrats. Where are the avocados?"

[Treefrog]

5. I live in a small town.

But I spend absolutely zero time looking at others to see if they’re looking at me. Who the fuck cares?

These posts where people worry that others are “staring” at them really make me wonder about fragility indeed.

[Politicub]

12. I could care less what people there think, but I do notice them staring because it's

such a contrast to what I am used to.

The only time I do care about what people think there is when I'm with my husband. I want to keep him safe, and we keep to ourselves when we're out together. I'm so used to calling him honey, like any couple, when we're out and about. When I lived there (30 years ago), I had my tires slashed and was berated and physically threatened because I have a gay accent and mannerisms, I suppose (I wasn't out). That stuff sticks with you, and self-preservation measures are not the same as fragility.

[missingthebigdog]

13. You are fortunate to not need to be vigilant

There are people out here who HAVE to be alert to what others are doing, and make assessments about their safety on the fly.

For some us, not noticing that someone is staring can lead to harassment, confrontation, and worse. Hypervigilance is a survival tool.

[Treefrog]

31. Goodness me! Are you a spy?

I’m gay and a woman. I’ve lived in London and Dublin. I’ve spent time in Paris, Madrid, DC, Miami, Seattle, and numerous other cites over the course of my life. I was negotiating the London Tube alone by my early teens. I’m quite attuned to my surroundings.

Someone giving me “a look” in the local Food Lion, Publix, or whatever in my sleepy southern town is not even something I would imagine giving the slightest thought.

[missingthebigdog]

38. With all due respect, please check your privilege.

Perhaps you do not intend to be condescending, but that is how your comments are landing, at least for me.

Clearly, you are worldly and well traveled. The cities you named off have in common that they are large and diverse. Nothing particularly odd about a gay woman there, and plenty of progressive, intelligent people to balance the occasional idiotic bigot.

Many small towns seem comprised primarily of idiotic bigots. It starts with stares, and moves on to “accidentally” bumping you with a cart, or just obnoxiously blocking your access to something you are trying to reach. Just some little thing to get you to say something. See, they know better than to attack you for being different (or for wearing a mask) but if they can provoke you into any kind of exchange, they feel justified in engaging.

So no, I’m not “fragile.” Their stares don’t bother me a bit. But it is beyond aggravating (and, yes, frightening) to have my car egged, or my tires slashed, or to be called names, or followed, or reported to security (or the police) for whatever. And if you think none of that is happening over something as small as a mask, I might suggest that you pay better attention to what’s going on out here.

[Treefrog]

40. Dear me,if you think large cities are safe for gays and/or women because they are diverse, YOU

are the one who is misinformed. If you think living as an out gay woman in the 70s was “privileged”, well, I really can’t take the time to explain it to you. And sexual harassment is not something that “privileged” people deal with as frequently as women of my generation did. So check yours.

I retired to a small town in the south. I’ve no doubt there are bigots here, but I’ve never experienced any of these things that you say have happened to you in any small town I’ve lived. I’ve found the vast majority of people one meets treat you as you treat them. Any unsettling experiences that have happened to me occurred in the large cities. Try walking around any of those cities as a young woman/teen in the 70s/80s.

Honestly, I feel terrible for you that your life is obviously so fraught. As for calling me condescending, please reread your last sentence. The irony, omg.

I hope you find a better place to live; I’ve found life most agreeable everywhere I’ve gone. Certainly there have been less than pleasant, even frightening, incidents along the way. Very sorry it’s been so difficult for you. That’s no way to experience life. I wish you better luck in the future.

[missingthebigdog]

43. Wow.

I don’t know where to start, so you’ll have to forgive me for just reacting randomly.

That you would come here, to this progressive safe haven, and make an argument that is basically “ what you are claiming hasn’t been my experience, therefore it is invalid” is incredible.

Your assumption that I didn’t walk around any of those cities as a young woman in the 70’s and 80’s, or that I am not, in fact, a “woman of your generation” is as off as all of the rest of your attempts to denigrate my viewpoint. I spent much of my youth and young adulthood moving hither and yon. My experience has clearly been different than yours. That being said, neither of us have experienced what some people have to deal with every day.

I don’t need your concern, or your advice. I am quite content with my life, and with my home, and have no intention of looking elsewhere. This period of time will pass, the trolls will go back to their bridges, and the extra vigilance will no longer be necessary. To be clear, I am vigilant. Not fragile. Not fraught. Not unlucky. Sensible. Realistic. Aware. Vigilant.

The condescension, goal post moving, gaslighting, and transparently insincere concern in this and other of your posts remind me of tactics used by people who don’t typically frequent sites like this one. I see you. Go play with someone else.

[DBoon]

18. a stranger staring at you in a big city is a bad sign

You need to be aware of this to avoid problems such as becoming a crime victim or being attacked by someone mentally unbalanced

[Politicub]

26. +1 for great advice

[Treefrog]

28. I'm fully aware of my surroundings.

I’ve been a gay woman all my life. Believe me, both of those descriptors makes one aware.

But someone staring at me in a grocery store because I’m wearing a mask bothers me not one whit.

[Blue_true]

33. I live near a city. But I am like you, I can give one sliver of a rat's ass about

what other people think about me wearing a mask.

[Treefrog]

35. Thank you.

I’m gobsmacked that so many adults here care about what some random stranger thinks of them.

[griffi94]

36. I'm not gobsmacked

There's a difference between noticing what's going on around you and caring what they think.
I would never ask an anti-masker if it was OK with them if I wear a mask.
I will however be aware of them if they start staring at me.
It starts with stares. After that, it has the potential to escalate. I lived in a large city for 35 years, but I learned
to be aware of the people around me by being a longhair and traveling around the rural south.
To reiterate, I never ask the rednecks if it was alright with them if I had long hair, but usually if one
started staring, before long there would be more. The staring turned to loud obnoxious banter from them. Then direct insults.
Sometimes it was prudent to just leave.
You can't fight everybody.

[KentuckyWoman]

21. Crack me up

Go to a funeral at an Evangelical church wearing a mask and mention Whole Foods during the 'reception' after. That will get the entertainment started.

[smirkymonkey]

41. *snort*

"Want kale with that?"

[malaise]

4. What I will never understand is why people who keep shouting about their freedom

believe they can impose on other folks' freedom.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

7. Ah, my dear malaise! Because it's all about ME, ME, ME!

And besides, they believe that only THEY have the authority to shout down others.

[malaise]

14. Then my dear CaliforniaPeggy

They don't even know the meaning of the word freedom

[CaliforniaPeggy]

22. You're quite right, my dear malaise...they sure do not! ♥

[Diamond_Dog]

8. Bingo!

[bahboo]

6. fuck 'em...

[Bristlecone]

9. You make them feel badly about themselves

And they think you are looking down on them as a result.

Everyone has to cater to their stupidity instead of them improving themselves.

It’s the same thing when they freak out because someone is speaking in a language they can’t understand. They get mad because they don’t understand(yet again) and assume those people are talking badly about them. Instead of thinking, man I wish could speak more than 1 language - and considering learning another language.

They are called “the base” because they are just that: Base.

[griffi94]

11. I wrote much the same in a reply upthread.

[MustLoveBeagles]

20. Screw them

You don't owe them any explanation. You want to keep yourself as safe as possible while out in public. Nothing wrong with that at all. When out shopping a month ago there were few, if any, masks worn by anyone other than my husband and myself. Yesterday while shopping I notice the mask wearing had increased but only slightly. Too many here in Central Illinois seem to think the pandemic is over or they're so arrogant that they don't think they'll be personally affected. Fortunately for me no one has given me a hard time for wearing a mask. I've gotten a few strange looks but that's it.

[RKP5637]

24. There are so many assholes and deranged people. I guess they were always there, but with better

communications they just seem more prevalent. I'm always concerned about the one that feels a gun is necessary to get you in line. I carry powerful mace now everyplace I go. I never used to do that and I've been in a lot of places around the world. This thing about not getting vaccinated and chastising those masking is so damn bizarre ... something right out of a zombie horror flick.

[sakabatou]

25. They could just be fucking assholes. Nothing more.

[tavernier]

27. What the hell do you care?

Have a mask made up that says, I have rabies – try me.

[Tribetime]

37. I get pissed off when people are pissed off at me that's why

Any more questions

[LuckyCharms]

29. Keep wearing your mask and remember this...

None of those assholes are going to be comforting anyone they give Covid to. They are a scourge. They mean nothing to you. Be proud that you are doing what sane people consider to be the right thing to do.

[Renew Deal]

34. Just yell HiPAA with an increasingly deranged tone.

They’ll understand.

[alphafemale]

39. Gooble Gobble! Gooble Gbble!

Some here will get that reference.

Maybe.