There's Always that One Person...

There will always be people that do not agree with anything, whether it's an idea or a safety measure, like masks, for instance. Even though I'm not on campus, I have been able to somehow witness some of my close friends ignoring the mask policy and partying, walking around or even hanging out with other people without using one. 

But why? As a foreigner, I can tell that the whole world has been wondering why some americans refuse to wear a mask to the point they're willing to protest over it. I was able to find a very interesting video (the one at the beginning of this entry) that attempts to explain why people refuse to wear a mask and how it has sparked a huge debate and multiple incidents. In Colombia people have been doing a great job with wearing a mask while being outside their homes, but, we also have "those people". I live in a apartment complex, we have a big park that can be seen from my window. Thanks to this, I have been able to witness how some of my neighbors -at the beginning of the pandemic- refused to wear a mask, because technically they weren't going "outside" since the apartment complex's park counts as private property. However, one day there was a group of adults (around their 50s) reunited at the park without their masks, and I decided to approach them and ask them why was I, an 18 year old, who would probably not be affected very bad by the virus, wearing a mask and they weren't? I asked them, have you thought about the risk you are in if you get infected? Well, from that day on, they haven't stopped reuniting at the park, but they have definitely started wearing their masks. 

Believe it or not, masks are fully necessary if we want to mitigate the virus, I am worried people refusing to wear a mask on campus will escalate and spike the number of cases. Hopefully, students and staff will be more aware of the benefits and not ignore this safety measure.