I am dead serious! Many of you might think I should just chill the %#@$ out but I cannot. This is not about a debate on whether masks protect us or not so please don’t share your thoughts on this here. You do you.
But – if you get on a flight where the second you walk into the airport it states clearly EVERYWHERE (and I mean everywhere) that masks are required on the flight and you have no intention of wearing one, should you be allowed on the flight? Some will say yes – of course “they can’t tell me what to do!!” But they tell you that you can’t smoke – so can we choose to smoke on a plane now? I mean honestly! Why bother with rules if we can pick and choose which ones we will follow?
So – on your own – when it isn’t impacting those around you – I don’t care how many rules you want to break. But when others are involved, I just don’t get it.
Maybe it is because I am (was) a teacher and I have seen firsthand that rules are made to be broken (in some schools). Everyone agrees on the rules, everyone agrees to enforce said rules and then not everyone does. So, from a young age, kids are learning that rules are basically optional. Also, some rules do seem ridiculous when you consider only yourself or a few. I remember having chats with students over the years about that very thing, explaining that the rule is in place for everyone – even though – they themselves don’t really need it.
It's like the time we took 200 people to China and certain people who were not chaperones or students but “extras” were so put out by some of the requirements – not understanding (or refusing to) why the rule was needed for a group of 200.
We live in Japan now and I think that some of the norms and expectations are silly. But – I have chosen to live in Japan; therefore, I will RESPECT those norms and expectations.
Therein lies the issue – RESPECT. I have found that students and children for that matter are able to follow the rules if there is consistency and understanding. Because of COVID it seems even more of us are questioning rules and expectations in society. YAY! We should question. But in a democracy, once we decide what is best for “us”, do only some of us have to respect the rules? Because in a democracy we do not always agree. Just like in a school. BUT – once the majority agrees to what is expected, then we need to follow the rules or we have chaos.
Arghhhhh. End of rant.
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