Last Friday, Covid-19 mask mandates were lifted. Where I live, these were previously enacted by the Provincial Government. Masks are optional anywhere in British Columbia. Where I live, masks now are worn by less than half of the population when out and about. I hope that the virus got the memo.
I don't want to get into the politics of mask-wearing and the Covid-19 vaccination program. I will say that the Provincial Government made some communication missteps that heightened the divide between those choosing to get vaccinated and those choosing not to.
I am vaccinated but understand that there are legitimate reasons for people not to be. I've had a family member painfully affected by the incorrect application of a flu shot. My evaluation of the risks led me to a personal choice to get vaccinated, and I believe for most people that if you can get vaccinated, you should. However, the persecution of those who didn't make the same choice is rough. People are losing their jobs, freedoms, and dignity.
This is even more apparent now that the restrictions are lifting. Was it all for naught? And, has this political divide made people have fewer manners now that the mandate is lifted?
Indeed, some behaviour that I've seen over the last week has me wondering whether manners have gone away with the masks? I've seen people blocking aisles in stores, rudely cutting in line, abandoning personal space, and being uncourteous in traffic over the last week. I didn't notice much of this before the mandate was lifted. Perhaps I'm just more susceptible to catching it now I can see more of the faces that are behaving rudely.
People's behaviour takes me back to the halcyon times at the start of the pandemic. People were kind and respectful of each other. The impatience and sense of rush and entitlement weren't evident as we were "all in this together." I recall people staying at a respectable distance to older people, standing out of the way. Now it's in-your-face arguments.
When I did some work in the Arctic, people in these remote communities banded together to help each other. It wasn't just about winning, losing, or making a dollar. Life in Arctic Canada can be about life and death. And this creates a strong bond of a community working together. Where a handshake means something and a person's word is their bond. It's pretty amazing to be part of this.
I had high hopes that we would come out of the pandemic with better understanding, tolerance, and grace towards others. Even when survival doesn't depend on this grace, the community is much better for it. At least from where I'm sitting, kindness and respect to all others don't appear to have stuck.