Look beyond yourself
On Thursday, Dec. 3, one American died of COVID every 30 seconds. And yet, some citizens, council members and the mayor of my lovely city, Naperville, voted against a mask mandate. American citizens who complain about their "constitutional right" to not wear a mask and their COVID fatigue should look further than themselves. Do you recognize the difference between fatigue and exhaustion? While many of us are tired of staying home, of excessive TV watching and limited social contacts, our healthcare workers and other frontline workers are physically and mentally exhausted. For them there is no reprieve. They must keep working because the patients keep coming.
When did we become so selfish? Where is our civic responsibility to help those asking us to please wear a mask? The reason for a mandate is because people on their own are not fulfilling their responsibility to help those people who are doing the fighting. It is incumbent upon civic leaders to direct, educate and if needed, require the public to cooperate on necessary measures to defeat this illness.
It may be your "constitutional right" to breathe maskless while walking in downtown Naperville. But when you contract the virus, the exhausted health care workers have no "right" to deny you lifesaving measures and care.
It's not about me or you. It is about THEM. Those Americans who are holding the dieing and caring for strangers but cannot be home to hold their own children or care for their own families.
Let's stop putting our own needs and "rights" above the public good. We are better than that.
Angeline Finnigan
Naperville