When I was at a stoplight recently, a man called through my open car window saying something like, “What kind of idiot wears a mask when they are alone in their car?”
At first, I didn’t realize what he had said. When it sunk in, I turned to explain that I had forgotten that it was on, having just dropped off my elderly father. The opportunity to converse constructively was quickly quelled by him yelling about my blathering. I kept the window unrolled at the very long light hoping he would cool down and maybe even apologize. He did not, and I later cried.
Then it occurred to me how uncomfortable I would now be wearing a mask in public knowing that I might be accosted again. Later, it also occurred to me that this, times a thousand, is what it is probably like to be black in America. At any given time a person’s rage, most likely about his or her own unpleasant circumstances, could be unleashed on a person just for how they look.
To be the great nation we espouse to be, we all need to thrive. Each day, each one of us has the choice to make our nation great. For instance, we can listen to and comfort those who have been afflicted by COVID to fight the isolation that debilitates a nation. We can grieve with those who have had a family member die a preventable, unjustified death and stand with them to fight for critical systemic change. We can sacrifice comfort and wear a mask that prevents transmitting a potentially lethal hidden virus.
And finally, we can contact our representatives demanding that they do the same. There are so many civilized acts we can take to ensure a better nation for all, what are we waiting for?
Andrea Henkels Heidinger, Holladay
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