Last Wednesday’s Chester Selectboard meeting with public discussion on the mask mandate was truly eye opening! It’s difficult to listen to the same theme from so many people: “My personal freedom is more important than yours.”
Whatever happened to taking care of your neighbor with regard to public health? Wearing a mask is such a simple thing to do – it keeps your germs from me and mine from reaching you. It’s not perfect or forever – it’s just until the worst is over. It’s a simple sacrifice that apparently many in Chester seem unwilling to make.
Contradictions and illogic: An owner of a local grocery spoke out against a mask mandate because his clerks would have to enforce it. Yet, he has no problem with a sign on the doors to his establishment: “No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service.” Who enforces that rule? Why not simply add “No Masks” to it?
A woman asked the selectboard to enforce the speed limit on North Street for people’s safety, yet was opposed to a mask mandate to keep people safe.
Many of the business owners who spoke seemed fearful of losing customers if they required them to wear a mask. For them, it isn’t about public safety; it’s purely a business decision. We all have a choice, and mine is that I will not shop in an establishment that does not require a mask so that I might feel safe. I don’t think I’m the only one who feels that way.
Can’t we get through this difficult time without jeopardizing the health of our friends and neighbors? Can we say, “Your health is as important as my personal freedom.”
Stay safe, wear a mask – it won’t kill you. But COVID-19 might!
Kathy Pellett is a resident of Chester, Vt.
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