Upon seeing this, somewhere in the world an evil person is rubbing his hands together like Mr. Burns. and cooing "excellent." It's amazing to see what they've accomplished. Even the twitter comments defend it. Jesus wept.
You might not be far off. I would bet there is lots of tamped-down aggression and resentment built up among the young, at least those who haven't yet been to college and had their capacity for individual thought excised. As more and more high profile maskers/vaxxers get the bug anyway some kids are gonna say, "The President, Vice President, and the head of the CDC all got COVID so why do *I* have to bother with the mask and jabs?"
I had to actually click-through and read the Twitter replies because I could not FATHOM anybody possibly defending that, either.
What's intriguing is that I did not see ONE single comment (in the top 10-20 that I scrolled through, to be fair) that defended the mask in conjunction with COVID or virus transmission. The closest I came was the idea that the kid could be "immunocompromised."
However, you're gal-danged right in that there were plenty of people who defended the mask. One said, "In his own backyard, he can wear whatever he wants." Height of irony only because I strongly suspect that this poster would not feel at all the same if the same person wished to NOT wear a mask during the height of "COVOPHOBIA."
The interesting comments to me, though, were those who defended it for a semi-valid reason. One pointed out that in Asian cultures, masks are pretty "normal," and another pointed out that it could be for anonymity. Taken together, it's entirely possible for me to imagine someone with a mindset that is in no way incongruous with my own, who lives in an Asian country, choosing to put a mask on his son rather than risk the son being identified publicly and possibly facing backlash for building him a toy that would fail a CPSC inspection. So ... Hmm.
The overall "vibe" that I got from that comments section -- reading WAY too deeply between the lines of the plebeian Borg collective unconscious, here -- was that:
1. They know that masks do nothing to protect anyone from disease transmission
2. They know that an increasingly large number of people hate the mask and its symbolism
3. They, on the other hand, LIKE the mask and its symbolism
4. They have abandoned all pretense of defending the original stated purpose of the mask (to slow viral transmission), because they know that it has been all too thoroughly debunked, but
5. They nevertheless wish to defend the use of the mask so that it, and its symbolism, is not marginalized or associated with any majorly negative connotation (good luck with that guys), so
6. They defend the mask using weak, oblique appeals to other potential uses, even going so far as to appeal to the freedom of the mask-wearer to make his own choices.*
Fascinating, sayeth Spock. Fascinating.
*Yes, I realize that it is a little kid, and he cannot choose, and I'm deliberating choosing to set aside that thorny fact.
So true...the soda consumption that I see, the sugar, sugar, sugar, all day every day, to two year olds...and that's not even taking the 5 or 6 jabs and boosters into account.
I must confess that having been a big fan of males, masculinity, boys, etc., for as long as I can remember, the conduct of same over the last 2.5 years has turned that almost 180 degrees. The disgust I feel at grown men walking around with snot pouches strapped on or hearing them wax poetic about "being safe" or demonstrating care/concern for others? Makes me want to hurl.
I was at the farmer's market over the weekend. Not one mask except for a college aged boy. It is always the young men. Fearful of what is in the air. If they knew what was in their mask they would keel over.
Note to men: Women like masculine, non masky get it done types. Pull up your pants, get a job, learn how to fix things and go back to being awesome. Pass that on to your jab friends. None of the men hear need this declaration.
Love the meme that shows Cary Grant on one side, a soiboy in Daisy Dukes and mules with a man bun on the other, with the message, "What happened?" A picture is worth a thousand words.
I have to believe you are in the majority. Unless of course you are in Portland, in which case - Run!! Any woman who buys into that "Toxic Masculinity" bs, you don't want to get involved with, even for an hour of fun. The ride just ain't worth the price of the ticket. Put another way, the high ain't worth the price of the fix.
No, they are real, they are actually small traveling carnivals, you find them all over Mexico and sometimes in the western U.S., particularly California. They're fun, for sure, but don't look for an OSHA or Consumer Product Safety Commission presence. Enjoy, but think twice about going on the rides. Maybe the merry-go-round.
Not to start a fight but I see that as cheap thinking.
I'm frequently accused on Twitter of being a bot, because people struggle to put me in a categorizable box. I don't clap like a seal when someone takes a step towards common sense they should have been leaping and bounding to in the first place. Or I seem to be taking a conservative opinion and then suddenly I say both Ds and Rs can be total morons.
For too many people, anyone holding a viewpoint they themselves find incomprehensible is pointed out like someone out of "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers." Can't possibly be honest. Or--no one can be that stupid. Or--trying to cause dissension.
Nah. Most of anyone you or anyone might be incredulous about is likely quite real.
Agree. I get the original point - homemade roller coaster guy thinking masking his kid for the 'current thing' where masking is a divisive 'issue' seems kind of incongruent.
That said - in a similar manner to the hate for the 'refuse the free water guy' from the other day - do we really know enough to render an opinion with such certainty? I'd argue not (and admittedly here I didn't look at the thread to see if things may have been explained further).
Honestly my gut reaction to this situation...given that the people appear to be Asian I first wondered if the mask might be more to protect against (particulate) air pollution which is a large problem in many urban areas in Asia - especially for kids.
I think far too many people are falling for snap judgements for/against - which is sad, cause that's what the powers that be want, to separate people into binaries.
I’m assuming the child masked himself. Nonetheless, masks have become a symbol of something and it’s impossible to avoid the ambiguity anymore. If I saw this child 3 years ago, I’d assume he had leukemia. Ans he might.
Based on the rest of the context I assume you mean it's 'impossible to be ambiguous' vs 'impossible to avoid being ambiguous'? (my head is still spinning trying to figure out if I've got that clear!)
In any event, I think it is not only possible, but imperative, for us to avoid relegating ambiguity to the dustbin and blindly adhering to 'symbols' with snap judgements. This is exactly what those who push us to choose between these sorts of binaries want. No thought, just choose - white or black when many things are shades of gray. This is especially true since we often lack the proper context - many times because it is purposefully being kept from us and/or we're not the sort to follow up (or that's impossible because of the former).
Per your example, as someone else also pointed out, how do we know this video isn't from 3 years ago and the kid does have leukemia? We don't. So in this instance I'd say there's not a level of certainty (in the 'data') to pass judgement. Now if there were a video with a timestamp from today of someone masking up while driving alone in their car with a Ukraine flag bumper sticker...I'm right there with you on that one!
And cause this post was from the 'good cat' I'm guessing it was less about actual judgement of this situation and more a degree of hyperbole/artistic license in order to get a chuckle (though those bets are off for comments from the twitterdom...which I don't want to subject myself to reading!).
You could ask if he is sick. That would solve the mystery. I ask occasionally. Nobody has ever gotten mad at my asking. I never ask older people. They are too far gone to turn back from the road to Crazytown.
Yes--I just played the sound, and it might be one of the languages spoken in China and therefore in any of the diaspora communities in Asia. It could be a country/region with very strict mask mandates and we don't know when this was filmed (many videos showing up on Twitter feeds are not necessarily recent.
Yes, he does. So does a mama with munchausen syndrome by proxy. ; ) Good parents do not indulge their children's behaviors that will prove to be detrimental to their health - emotionally and physically. Bad ones do. I'd love to say it is an act of love, but there is no way to get to that conclusion.
People seem to feel it's quite dangerous to have legitimate criticisms of someone or something they may generally support. And so many people are afraid of what someone might find on their feed that hints [falsely] of treason to whatever the creed is.
I’m not convinced twitter shows me that. I *know* what walks in the world. But twitter is like a sieve that allows the maddest to fall to the bottom and rattle around looking like a quorum.
I haven't seen that one. Good thing. I'd hurl. My "friend" practicing her "eye smile" - twinkling, dancing eyes with crinkled corners above her mask, in her bathroom mirror - Jesus does that give me the heebie-jeebies.
What is truly a jarring juxtaposition is that we are surrounded by the innumerable fruits of an industrial-technological civilization while at the same time have descended into early-medieval levels of superstition and fear.
Imagine having the engineering chops to build this contraption and yet believing that a face diaper will protect your child. When he is at essentially zero risk. Outside.
In a bizarre inversion of "the dark ages" (not really that dark, but I digress), rather than the literate class keeping the illiterate masses at bay via archaic language and a variety of liturgical devices, it is now the educated that will, literally, believe anything and fearfully don the cloth talisman to ward off the invisible evil.
I work with highly educated and experienced technologists, all of whom have swallowed every Covidian absurdity whole and presumably will continue jabbing themselves until the ferryman's arrival.
This is in stark contrast to most of my conversations with the great unwashed, whom I find not only far more sceptical but far less terrified as well.
I love the take if they don’t mask inside the car Covid will go out the tailpipe. Or must mask the tailpipe to keep Covid from going into the car so must mask. Cray cray.
Fascinating, indeed. Sadness abounds when you realize even simple pleasures like this are marred by magic talisman molesting. (I noticed Dad didn't muzzle himself, curiously.)
Upon seeing this, somewhere in the world an evil person is rubbing his hands together like Mr. Burns. and cooing "excellent." It's amazing to see what they've accomplished. Even the twitter comments defend it. Jesus wept.
Lol!
What would you bet that the next string of serial murderers will be the children of hard-core maskers?
I'm thinking we'll have another wave like the 70's.
You might not be far off. I would bet there is lots of tamped-down aggression and resentment built up among the young, at least those who haven't yet been to college and had their capacity for individual thought excised. As more and more high profile maskers/vaxxers get the bug anyway some kids are gonna say, "The President, Vice President, and the head of the CDC all got COVID so why do *I* have to bother with the mask and jabs?"
I think many of them were already predisposed to neurosis by virtue of genetics.
Perpetual masking might as well be a noninvasive way of gene splicing to manifest the same disorder.
And if not by genetics, then by the pharmacopeia of psychoactive drugs they were likely plied with as their brains were struggling to develop.
Yes. we have an epidemic right now. Nearly 2 generations on Adderall and Prozac, etc.
Neither one of those drugs help a kid focus, in fact, from my observations it's just the opposite.
Some very unstable kids out there.
Dissent is not tolerated comrade! March to the Gulag train!
Jesus wept...hopefully enough to flood the earth again.
Nope, that box has been checked, remember? On to the next...
First time was just a dry run...
I flooded you with praise. ; )
Thank you for that! Noahne else did.
C'mon, that's a killer pun.
I'm fine with an unquenchable fire.
I had to actually click-through and read the Twitter replies because I could not FATHOM anybody possibly defending that, either.
What's intriguing is that I did not see ONE single comment (in the top 10-20 that I scrolled through, to be fair) that defended the mask in conjunction with COVID or virus transmission. The closest I came was the idea that the kid could be "immunocompromised."
However, you're gal-danged right in that there were plenty of people who defended the mask. One said, "In his own backyard, he can wear whatever he wants." Height of irony only because I strongly suspect that this poster would not feel at all the same if the same person wished to NOT wear a mask during the height of "COVOPHOBIA."
The interesting comments to me, though, were those who defended it for a semi-valid reason. One pointed out that in Asian cultures, masks are pretty "normal," and another pointed out that it could be for anonymity. Taken together, it's entirely possible for me to imagine someone with a mindset that is in no way incongruous with my own, who lives in an Asian country, choosing to put a mask on his son rather than risk the son being identified publicly and possibly facing backlash for building him a toy that would fail a CPSC inspection. So ... Hmm.
The overall "vibe" that I got from that comments section -- reading WAY too deeply between the lines of the plebeian Borg collective unconscious, here -- was that:
1. They know that masks do nothing to protect anyone from disease transmission
2. They know that an increasingly large number of people hate the mask and its symbolism
3. They, on the other hand, LIKE the mask and its symbolism
4. They have abandoned all pretense of defending the original stated purpose of the mask (to slow viral transmission), because they know that it has been all too thoroughly debunked, but
5. They nevertheless wish to defend the use of the mask so that it, and its symbolism, is not marginalized or associated with any majorly negative connotation (good luck with that guys), so
6. They defend the mask using weak, oblique appeals to other potential uses, even going so far as to appeal to the freedom of the mask-wearer to make his own choices.*
Fascinating, sayeth Spock. Fascinating.
*Yes, I realize that it is a little kid, and he cannot choose, and I'm deliberating choosing to set aside that thorny fact.
His social credit score must be through the roof. Cute little future insulin customer taking that speed of science ride.
So true...the soda consumption that I see, the sugar, sugar, sugar, all day every day, to two year olds...and that's not even taking the 5 or 6 jabs and boosters into account.
Nice! 😂
That kid should peddling a bike...
Haha that’s what I thought.
Damn, beat me to it. Hah.
I must confess that having been a big fan of males, masculinity, boys, etc., for as long as I can remember, the conduct of same over the last 2.5 years has turned that almost 180 degrees. The disgust I feel at grown men walking around with snot pouches strapped on or hearing them wax poetic about "being safe" or demonstrating care/concern for others? Makes me want to hurl.
Broken? I'll say.
I was at the farmer's market over the weekend. Not one mask except for a college aged boy. It is always the young men. Fearful of what is in the air. If they knew what was in their mask they would keel over.
Note to men: Women like masculine, non masky get it done types. Pull up your pants, get a job, learn how to fix things and go back to being awesome. Pass that on to your jab friends. None of the men hear need this declaration.
Well said, Raptor.
In my neck of the woods, it's mostly young or old women who mask. Not that there are that many of them :)
I think the person I mentioned fit loosely into that category ; )
Yes, yes, yes
Love the meme that shows Cary Grant on one side, a soiboy in Daisy Dukes and mules with a man bun on the other, with the message, "What happened?" A picture is worth a thousand words.
Those are the ones who have rejected that bad, nasty, evil toxic masculinity. Or they wanna get laid. Or both.
Acting like a girl will not get you laid. It will, however, get you a good talk about feelings and a nice polish on your nails.
hahaha... Yep
I only wanna get the kind of laid that my "classic" masculinity can get me. But I'm just one guy.
First there was New Coke
And now there is Get Woke
Sorry I take my Coke
- Like my masculinity -
CLASSIC
Classic, sacred 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚.
I have to believe you are in the majority. Unless of course you are in Portland, in which case - Run!! Any woman who buys into that "Toxic Masculinity" bs, you don't want to get involved with, even for an hour of fun. The ride just ain't worth the price of the ticket. Put another way, the high ain't worth the price of the fix.
I believe that the phrase "Don't stick it in crazy" is apropos here.
The very words, thank you. I knew there was a phrase out there.
I’m following a character I’d never have associated with in the past. Andrew Tate.
Same
nicely put. and quite funny
I hear you sister
Get that kid some lawn darts, STAT.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4UnpbWM-vQ
Ha! Good one WH!!
hahahaha
The mask makes sense. Wouldn’t want to catch Sky AIDS...
I believe it's the "avian flu" 🤪
Kung flu 🤧
https://youtu.be/CpB2dmIA-lA
LOL!!! Hadn't seen it Made my night. Thanks!
😂
Racist! 😒
It's showing good parenthood. You can't be too careful.
I couldn’t tell, is there a seat belt on that ride? There’s sure no safety bar. I’m thinkin a pretend steering wheel doesn’t serve a safety function.
Have you ever been to a Mexican carnival? Preparing the child for the future.
I can say with certainty I have not “been to a Mexican carnival.” Is it conceptually like a Chinese fire drill? Or worse? Misread?
No, they are real, they are actually small traveling carnivals, you find them all over Mexico and sometimes in the western U.S., particularly California. They're fun, for sure, but don't look for an OSHA or Consumer Product Safety Commission presence. Enjoy, but think twice about going on the rides. Maybe the merry-go-round.
Are the pro-mask comments from bots? Please say they are bots.
Yes. Yes they are.
I don’t even mind if you’re lying to me.
If they are not machine bots, they are human bots. Zombies.
😂
That's the spirit.
Well, if Guttermouth is a bot, she/it is a very very cleverly made one.
Not to start a fight but I see that as cheap thinking.
I'm frequently accused on Twitter of being a bot, because people struggle to put me in a categorizable box. I don't clap like a seal when someone takes a step towards common sense they should have been leaping and bounding to in the first place. Or I seem to be taking a conservative opinion and then suddenly I say both Ds and Rs can be total morons.
For too many people, anyone holding a viewpoint they themselves find incomprehensible is pointed out like someone out of "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers." Can't possibly be honest. Or--no one can be that stupid. Or--trying to cause dissension.
Nah. Most of anyone you or anyone might be incredulous about is likely quite real.
I used to think I could ‘put myself in another’s shoes”. No longer. So far off the ledge and yet...they are as convinced as I am.
Thank you.
Agree. I get the original point - homemade roller coaster guy thinking masking his kid for the 'current thing' where masking is a divisive 'issue' seems kind of incongruent.
That said - in a similar manner to the hate for the 'refuse the free water guy' from the other day - do we really know enough to render an opinion with such certainty? I'd argue not (and admittedly here I didn't look at the thread to see if things may have been explained further).
Honestly my gut reaction to this situation...given that the people appear to be Asian I first wondered if the mask might be more to protect against (particulate) air pollution which is a large problem in many urban areas in Asia - especially for kids.
I think far too many people are falling for snap judgements for/against - which is sad, cause that's what the powers that be want, to separate people into binaries.
I’m assuming the child masked himself. Nonetheless, masks have become a symbol of something and it’s impossible to avoid the ambiguity anymore. If I saw this child 3 years ago, I’d assume he had leukemia. Ans he might.
Based on the rest of the context I assume you mean it's 'impossible to be ambiguous' vs 'impossible to avoid being ambiguous'? (my head is still spinning trying to figure out if I've got that clear!)
In any event, I think it is not only possible, but imperative, for us to avoid relegating ambiguity to the dustbin and blindly adhering to 'symbols' with snap judgements. This is exactly what those who push us to choose between these sorts of binaries want. No thought, just choose - white or black when many things are shades of gray. This is especially true since we often lack the proper context - many times because it is purposefully being kept from us and/or we're not the sort to follow up (or that's impossible because of the former).
Per your example, as someone else also pointed out, how do we know this video isn't from 3 years ago and the kid does have leukemia? We don't. So in this instance I'd say there's not a level of certainty (in the 'data') to pass judgement. Now if there were a video with a timestamp from today of someone masking up while driving alone in their car with a Ukraine flag bumper sticker...I'm right there with you on that one!
And cause this post was from the 'good cat' I'm guessing it was less about actual judgement of this situation and more a degree of hyperbole/artistic license in order to get a chuckle (though those bets are off for comments from the twitterdom...which I don't want to subject myself to reading!).
Exactly!
It is true there is not enough certainty to pass judgment; is there ever, really? Everyone is fighting a battle you and I know nothing about.
Masks broke the world. I can’t even put one on without dry heaving now, and I used to use them occasionally.
You could ask if he is sick. That would solve the mystery. I ask occasionally. Nobody has ever gotten mad at my asking. I never ask older people. They are too far gone to turn back from the road to Crazytown.
Actually I take that back. I did ask a man who was jogging down my street with a gigantic mask on his face what in God's name he was doing.
Yes--I just played the sound, and it might be one of the languages spoken in China and therefore in any of the diaspora communities in Asia. It could be a country/region with very strict mask mandates and we don't know when this was filmed (many videos showing up on Twitter feeds are not necessarily recent.
I initially thought that the video was probably old. Then I noticed papa was breathing free and allowing his child to be muzzled like a dog.
The father seems to be rather devoted to his child.
Yes, he does. So does a mama with munchausen syndrome by proxy. ; ) Good parents do not indulge their children's behaviors that will prove to be detrimental to their health - emotionally and physically. Bad ones do. I'd love to say it is an act of love, but there is no way to get to that conclusion.
that is a frightening thought, considering some of what I've seen.
Exactly.
And this goes for every side of every issue.
People seem to feel it's quite dangerous to have legitimate criticisms of someone or something they may generally support. And so many people are afraid of what someone might find on their feed that hints [falsely] of treason to whatever the creed is.
There's that.
But I pray that the pro-maskers are bots. People shouldn't do that to children
The CDC just added the vax to the childhood immunization schedule and the country is still standing.
Pro-maskers are not bots.
[clarification: the country should not still be standing after that.]
That's one of the worst things the CDC has done, and that is saying a lot.
"that hints [falsely] of treason to whatever the creed is"... today.
You dropped a word lass.
Implicit, that was.
If it’s not in a box, it’s not a bot. But there’s a certain pattern to rhyming sophristic replies.
Lots of real people repeat catechisms like crazy.
they're not good at being real
But I’d rather they be bots, hence the original comment
I'd rather know exactly what I'm up against.
I’m not convinced twitter shows me that. I *know* what walks in the world. But twitter is like a sieve that allows the maddest to fall to the bottom and rattle around looking like a quorum.
I liked the one where they declared a smile inside the mask is just as valid and amazing. Chic's snorting glue.
I haven't seen that one. Good thing. I'd hurl. My "friend" practicing her "eye smile" - twinkling, dancing eyes with crinkled corners above her mask, in her bathroom mirror - Jesus does that give me the heebie-jeebies.
She's gonna regret that when she turns 50 or so. Very weird indeed.
I am so mad I didn't think of it while masks were mandatory... If someone asked me how I was doing today I could have told them to guess.
She's 65, my age, and she should know better.
Good line.
Lord.
Bots are way smarter. Sorry.
The mask is keeping the bugs out of his teeth. ;-)
Bugs?? Somebody has bugs??? How much are they asking for them??
It's certainly more effective for that use!
My dad would never have made me something like that roller coaster.
Neither would he ever have made me wear a mask.
What is truly a jarring juxtaposition is that we are surrounded by the innumerable fruits of an industrial-technological civilization while at the same time have descended into early-medieval levels of superstition and fear.
Imagine having the engineering chops to build this contraption and yet believing that a face diaper will protect your child. When he is at essentially zero risk. Outside.
In a bizarre inversion of "the dark ages" (not really that dark, but I digress), rather than the literate class keeping the illiterate masses at bay via archaic language and a variety of liturgical devices, it is now the educated that will, literally, believe anything and fearfully don the cloth talisman to ward off the invisible evil.
I work with highly educated and experienced technologists, all of whom have swallowed every Covidian absurdity whole and presumably will continue jabbing themselves until the ferryman's arrival.
This is in stark contrast to most of my conversations with the great unwashed, whom I find not only far more sceptical but far less terrified as well.
Truly we live in some strange-ass days.
One of thousands of examples of mask covidianism.
One of my favorite takes on this: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ob9_60FAvuE
I love the take if they don’t mask inside the car Covid will go out the tailpipe. Or must mask the tailpipe to keep Covid from going into the car so must mask. Cray cray.
You're still thinking 1983. Without the mask, the kid would have turned in his dad for wrongthink.
Fascinating, indeed. Sadness abounds when you realize even simple pleasures like this are marred by magic talisman molesting. (I noticed Dad didn't muzzle himself, curiously.)
I betcha mom was taking the video, and insisted junior mask-up for the shot. Dad prolly surrendered on this issue in 2020.
I love the spare tire on the back of the cart. Like a Lincoln Continental!
just take the mask off the kid and dad's battin 1000.
5 years ago the helicopter parents would be screeching that the child was not wearing a helmet. Today, so long as he's masked, he's safe.
OMG the people I see riding bikes in traffic with masks on, no helmet, and... earbuds of course. There just aren't enough Darwin Awards to go around.
The kid should be pedaling.