...Or something to that effect. It's a line I saw in an article about a person who got fired for stating they planned to perform at an anti-mask rally. Whatever. I just shook my head in disbelief after reading that.
The contrast between where I live now and where I'm from in terms of COVID-19 is simply this: there are a lot more people here and a proportionally smaller number of people infected by the disease. That's a simplified version but I think the numbers don't lie.
The reason for the difference, to me, might be traced to generally held beliefs and opinions. It's a cultural thing. It pops up whenever the topic of travelling abroad comes up. "Is it safe there?", "What's the level of public safety there?" are frequent questions I get when I mention I'm from Canada. Personal safety plays a big part in the decision making process when planning a trip abroad. One must assume it applies to everyday life, too.
I suppose that concern about personal safety is one of the reasons behind the prevalence of mask wearing in public here. And this is something that I observed when I first lived here in the 1970s. It's not something that just started because of COVID-19. The average person over here will put on a mask at the earliest sign of a cold or the flu. It's expected of everyone. If you're sick, don't put others at risk. The flip side of the coin is that if one is sick, then not wearing a mask in public will put the culprit in a position of being shunned or shamed. I know we heaped a ton of scorn on a co-worker who showed up at work with a cold whilst not wearing a mask. One or two of us got mild colds thanks to that sap and we weren't the least bit pleased....
...And yes, even a mailbox Santa is shown wearing a mask...
