|
OBSERVATIONS
July 23, 2020 |
 |
 Wingate Lassiter |
Masks, like seat belts, first resisted;
but good sense leads us to use them
Remember the controversy back in the 1980s over a proposed state law to require us to wear seat belts in our motor vehicles?
Many folks --- and our politicians --- resisted on the grounds of individual liberty: "Let us decide for ourselves what's good for us. We don't want the government telling us how to behave."
But the evidence proved to be overwhelming about the life-saving value of seat belts, and now their use is not only required by state law but also strictly enforced by the state's Click It Or Ticket campaigns.
The current resistance by some to face-mask requirements by business as well as government is reminiscent of the seat-belt saga. Once again, here's a rule that's put out there for one reason and one reason only: to save lives as the coronavirus pandemic continues largely unabated, especially here in the U.S.A.
Unlike the seat-belt law, however, we can hope that the face-covering rule will be temporary as the virus is suppressed by our good-health practices and ultimately wiped out by that vaccine we're anxiously awaiting.
It's sad that so many Americans apparently have not yet learned the lesson that short-term sacrifice is often necessary to produce long-term security.
Remember when our public schools
didn't start classes till after Labor Day?
That was standard procedure here back in the mid-20th Century, for two reasons:
(1) A large number of students were needed at home to help harvest the family's tobacco crop through late August.
(2) Our schools weren't air-conditioned. Even coming back after Labor Day was sometimes too early, prompting early closing of schools on especially hot days.
What a bummer that the coronavirus outbreak has messed up present-day plans for students' return to school. After schools were ordered closed back in March, the N.C. General Assembly authorized an earlier opening this summer: on August 17, a week earlier than previously allowed.
That was good news for local school leaders who've been pressing for an earlier opening so a full semester could be finished before the Christmas holidays.
Apparently that can still be accomplished, even with the school board's decision to keep middle and high-school students away from school campuses until there's a break in the coronavirus pandemic.
But whether so-called "distance learning" with computers at home will make it a productive first semester this fall is one of many uncertainties ahead of us now.
Got a comment or a question?
If so, send an e-mail to editor@smithfieldweeklysun.com.
Or, if you prefer, mail a letter to P.O. Box 1363, Smithfield, N.C. 27577.
We'll confirm receipt of your correspondence and, if any or all of it is appropriate for publication, we'll ask your permission to print before we "go to press." If we publish your submission, all we will show is your name and place of residence. Neither your e-mail address nor your complete postal address will be shared with our readers or anyone else.
To make verification simpler, please sign up as a subscriber if you haven't already done so, using the online form below:
RETURN TO THE SMITHFIELD WEEKLY SUN FRONT PAGE