Letter: Real Americans wear masks during COVID-19

While reading the news the other day, I was very impressed by what businesses are doing in order to assure the safety against the coronavirus for their employees and patrons. I wondered about the cost of plexiglass shields at cash registers, the cleaning supplies, the signage. I wondered about the cost of dedicating an employee to uniquely keep order at a bottle return area; had insurance rates risen to cover the injuries to employees who had to verbally require masks from hostile patrons?

I just don’t understand a person refusing to comply with mask requirements at businesses. Is it really in defense of a freedom, and if so, what is the name of that freedom? The right to infect, the right to be infected, the right to throw a tantrum, the right to bully, the right to assault, the right to establish rules of a business that is not your own, the right to decide for everyone around you their physical vulnerability and so they should remain isolated, not you?

Some of these people are probably good American people. It’s just that their egos have got the best of them, and the divisive tactics that we read about in the paper everyday now might be a factor fueling that. Let’s not forget that we are united and help one another during tragedy.

Can refusing to wear a mask seriously have a defense?

It is very simple to throw on a mask, a scarf, whatever cloth that covers mouth and nose. It has been widely adopted that a mask helps greatly to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Thinking of all of the effort, cost, and sacrifice made by those who comply, in order to give us all a place to buy, dine, and make repairs, I sure wonder how the non-compliers can even look in the mirror at their bare faces. I say to them: Take the flag down until you can behave like an American who helps Americans.

Constance Fugolo, Farmington Hills