What happened to kindness? What happened to respect? What happened to human decency? These are the questions I ask myself after what happened to me on campus recently.
I am an immunocompromised student. Because of this, I continue to mask. It is my personal choice. I mask to reduce the likelihood of catching COVID-19 and various other respiratory infections. While I am often the only one masked in the classroom, I do not force people to mask around me. I do not even ask. While I strongly believe in the benefits of masking and educating my community, it is not a requirement. I respect the decision of others. I do not force this on anyone. I keep to myself, and I mind my own business. However, I was walking on campus today when I was specifically targeted for wearing a mask. A group of three strangers walking past me pointed out that I was wearing a mask. They then repeatedly coughed directly at me, laughing the entire time. I tried to avoid them as much as possible, continuing to walk to my destination. I noticed they were continuously staring at me, mocking me, and making jokes, simply because I was wearing a mask. I don’t judge you for not wearing a mask, so why are they judging me? Little do they know I am more at risk for severe symptoms from COVID-19. I’ve had COVID-19 once and still suffer from long COVID symptoms. I do not need to make myself more prone to a re-infection.
I ask myself, would those individuals cough on their grandma because she had high blood pressure or diabetes? Would they cough on their little cousin with leukemia? Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic appears to have stripped our society even more from the decency of treating each other with dignity and respect. Never would I have guessed some people would find it necessary to target someone specifically for trying to protect themselves. Never would I have imagined some people would have this much hatred in their hearts to do something like this to someone.
So why even tell this story or make a deal of it? Because there are so many individuals vulnerable to severe infection if they catch something like COVID. More susceptible than me. And I don’t want this happening to them.
Do not judge others for wearing a mask. Whether they are sick and are trying to protect you or they are trying to protect themselves or their loved ones, it is none of your business. Everyone has a story; you never know what that story may be.
-Anonymous
Editor’s note: a prior version of this letter was published with the title “Masks and COVID-19”