Trust No One

I have a friend who emphatically states that she “trusts no one.” I don’t know if that is true; she puts herself out there pretty often which, to me, doesn’t indicate that she doesn’t trust. I mean, if you didn’t trust that your efforts were going to be heeded or helpful, why put yourself out there?

Of course there are issues of what I call generic trust: a person “trusts” that the light will come on when turning on a switch, “trusts” that a surgeon will do his or her best when operating, etc.

Call me Pollyanna but, previous to the pandemic, I thought that people would instinctively work together for the betterment of the majority. Ha! Was I wrong on that count! During the early days of the pandemic people did seem to follow mandates by the CDC and County of Los Angeles regarding moving about, masking, gathering, etc. Once the vaccine was made available I thought that people would flock to get that jab in the arm to lessen the chance of themselves getting sick and to help ensure the safety and wellness of their neighbors and at-risk family members. But somewhere along the way the efficacy and safety of the vaccine was questioned by (what I thought) were pretty intelligent people.

I do understand that not everyone was as eager as me to get the vaccine. People are hesitant due to how rapidly the initial (though not final) approval was given by the FDA to administer the shots and want to wait until that final approval is given. Others are mad about possibly being “forced” to get a shot when living in a free country. (I could go off about things people are “forced” to follow – traffic signals, laws, etc. – but I only have so much room.) But what gets me nuts now is that, in an effort to respect the rights of those same unvaccinated people, they were asked to wear a mask in public places in an effort to mitigate infecting themselves or others. Initially there was an “honor system” in place whereby the unvaccinated were trusted to wear a mask in indoor public places. Unfortunately, it quickly became evident that many folks weren’t going to follow that mandate. I know of three people who attended a recent indoor social function who were not vaccinated and were unmasked. Why do that? If we are asked to respect the wishes of those who are resistant to getting vaccinated shouldn’t the wishes be respected of those who are vaccinated?

The result is that now everyone, regardless of vaccination status, has to wear a mask indoors. Great.

So maybe my friend has a point: trust no one.