Sharper Point: Unmasking a sickening prejudice

I hate to admit it, but I have a prejudice.

I know it’s not all woke and stuff to have a prejudice … but … is it woke to admit that I have one — and that I’m working on myself to get rid of it?

I don’t know — but I know that my logical and decent sides shame me internally for it. Yet, it persists.

Alright … here goes … (don’t hate me) … I’m prejudiced against people who wear surgical masks in public!

I know! Stupid, right? Especially since my wife and my 4- and 7-year-old daughters suffer from respiratory issues. Even more awful is having this prejudice when I know people who wear them under doctor’s orders because of they have a lowered immune system.

But still (at least initially), when I see someone wearing a surgical mask in public, I think: “Hypochondriac!” “Germophobe!” Or the worst epithet: “Overreactor!!”

The headline at KTAR.com reads: “Surgical masks are hot accessory at ASU.” They’re haute couture on campus because one of the five confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. is plaguing someone at ASU. (Wait! Did I just say the panicky word “plague?!” Sorry.)

One ASU student wearing a surgical mask on campus told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Griselda Zetino, “Better safe than sorry.”

That old saying makes a lot more sense than my saying of “living safe is less important than looking silly.”

That’s why I’m working hard to get over my stupid prejudice against surgical mask wearers.

Apparently, I have more work to do because I was embarrassed looking around a Walgreens for ’em yesterday.

Even more embarrassing was the fact that I had to ask a clerk where they were. She directed me to Aisle 29 – only to find that they had sold out. At a Walgreens that’s 20 miles from ASU!

By the way, so that you don’t call me “hypochondriac!” (or the “G-word”), I wasn’t looking for surgical masks for me. I was looking for one for our 4-year-old. She has a checkup at her pediatrician’s office, where I know the flu is lying in wait in the waiting room.

If she gets the flu, that’ll likely lead to me putting a different kind of mask on her. A mask connected to a nebulizer so she will be able to simply breathe.

So, I’m working on changing my prejudiced feelings — not just “masking” them (sorry).

And I’m realizing I may have to wear a surgical mask someday — if for no other reason than to protect my kids when I’m sick.

But can somebody do me a favor and manufacture some that make it look more like Iron Man’s mask or something?!

That’d be cool.

(Really, Jim? Like your ridiculous prejudice didn’t make you look childish enough?)

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