The Unfriendly Skies

It may have been done in a metal tube at 30,000 feet, but it was the announcement heard round the world.

Yesterday, in a ruling by 35 year old Trump appointed federal judge, Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, the federal mask mandate for public transportation was struck down.  Mizelle, neither a public health expert or even a decent candidate for the lifetime appointment she now holds (she was described as "unqualified" by the American Bar Association prior to her placement), stated in her ruling, “Wearing a mask cleans nothing.  At most, it traps virus droplets. But it neither ‘sanitizes’ the person wearing the mask nor ‘sanitizes’ the conveyance.”

Those words, and her ruling, were immediately spread far and wide and high, reaching up to pilots in flight who delighted in letting their passengers know that their heinous oppression, fabric slavery, and forced concern for their fellow man masks were no longer required.  The result?  In-flight videos filled social media, horrified passengers took to their Twitter accounts midflight to lambaste the airlines, and the sane portion of the populace stared openmouthed (behind our masks).

Leading the ignorance brigade was Delta.  Their official statement literally contained this verbiage:

What in the ever loving fresh fuck?  See?  This is why we can't have nice things.  Like life.

An "ordinary seasonal virus"?!?!  Please explain that to the 1,015,839 Americans left dead in its wake.  Or the 6,225,663 citizens globally.  Or better yet, how about to the more than 20 MILLION excess dead internationally?

Watching the videos was like watching monkeys throwing their shit at zoo visitors.  The glee on the faces of the majority in each video and photo is sickening.  And I will go on the record and state that if each of these petulant, selfish cretins contracted COVID and ended up in a grave, I would not blink.  They care so little for anyone besides themselves, then I care zero for them as well.

COVID has not dwindled down to some "occasional seasonal virus."  It is very much on the move, mutating, and taking its toll.  One look overseas is all it takes to see the wave rolling towards us.  Their hospital numbers increasing, hundreds of flights being canceled daily as airline crews contract the virus and cannot work.  Yet here we are, a society dedicated to its own Field of Schemes, determined to act like if we ignore it, it will not come.

What happened in flight was simply wrong.  Passengers boarded those flights under one set of conditions - that of masking being enforced - and had that minimal protection stripped away.  Children too young to be vaccinated, who still rely on vaccinated adults and the masking of those around them, immunocompromised people who boarded for their trips reliant on the same, and those responsible people who are fully vaccinated, boosted, and diligent about masking - all suddenly exposed.

And before anyone starts - miss me with your "they shouldn't have been flying" takes.  Properly handled, societally supported, we should all be able to be doing a helluva lot more than we are at this point.  But the juvenile, shallow, out-for-number-one horde simply will not stand for even the most basic of inconveniences to their person.  Again, if only ONLY they were the ones contracting COVID and dying from it.

Sadly, everyone pays the price for their self centered, epidemiologically mercenary attitude.

I am still fresh off the needle of my fourth dose of the vaccine.  I regret not a single jab.  I have people in my life who are compromised and I love them.  It it the least I can do to protect them, hell, it is the least I can do to protect total strangers.  Masking is no different.  Even without COVID, I have zero plans to ever travel again without masking.  Whether it is the common cold, the flu, or a deadly virus, wearing an approved N94 or N95 mask has kept me healthier the past three years than ever before, especially after flying.  

The whole aversion to masking still stymies me.  Even the dumbest of dumbfuQs would balk at their surgical team not wearing anything as they stand over their open body on the table.  Why is that logic about protection so difficult to apply to an airborne virus?  Masks are worn in surgical settings to protect your open carcass from coughs, sneezes, you know - DROPLETS - from those working on you.  And to protect them from anything that oozes, spurts, or splashes up from YOU.  Surgical staff wear them for HOUR after HOUR after HOUR.  So, seriously, retire your pathetic whining about lack of oxygen.

Delta was not the only airline to have pilots and flight attendants make similar announcements midflight.  Passengers on United, JetBlue and Alaska Airlines reported the same.  Including the same boorish, childish, narcissistic cheering.

Yes, the mandate was set to expire on May 3rd, unless additional federal intervention to keep it in place longer, but on any level of rational thought, this is not simply unwise, it is deadly.  But hey, the risk of long COVID or death don't seem to phase these imbeciles, so let's provide them a visual that does resonate:  INCONVENIENCE.  

PREVIEW OF NEXT MONTH AT US AIRPORTS—“Chaos” at @HeathrowAirport as hundred of flights✈️ got cancelled or delayed as airlines were hit by staff shortages due to #COVID19. 3 hour waits—some flights delayed 24 hours. How is ‘let it rip’ good for the economy? pic.twitter.com/CG3hZLR7CQ

— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) April 19, 2022

That is what is coming, you willfully ignorant, mouthbreathing cretins.  Your summer plans, visions of amusement parks, beaches, cruises, visits to granny, honeymoons - canceled - because one power mad dimbulb in Floriduh decided she knows better than the experts and wanted to be famous among the red hats.  We already experienced hundreds of flights canceled because of COVID illnesses among flight crews a couple months ago.  It will be happening here again very soon.

All because you belligerent little belly achers cannot be asked to do the bare minimum and wear a goddamned mask.

Heads up - it's not simply airports and airlines.  Uber, Lyft, and Amtrak removed their masking requirements as well.  And save for some taxi services, a public transit system here and there (like MTA) and a couple airports like JFK, masks are now just an option.  What's sad is that one airline - Alaska - literally felt the need to use these words in their statement: "While we are glad this means many of us get to see your smiling faces, we understand some might have mixed feelings. Please remember to be kind to one another and that wearing a mask while traveling is still an option."   

Kind is the last thing these idiots are to anyone else.  They live to be sophomoric, mean, and bullies.  Evidence aplenty of their need to harass those wearing masks during the mandate can be found with a simple Google search.  Do you really think they will be kind now when someone in their vicinity is wearing one?  GTFO.

My husband and I are set to fly to Barcelona in three weeks.  We'll see.  The timing renders the entire trip up-in-the-air, as it were.  Will our domestic flights be canceled due to lack of crew?  Will Europe again be roiling under the weight of their bad choices?  I can tell you this - should our flights still be operating, our masks will be firmly in place.  DOUBLED, even.  Because the skies have never been less friendly.

(PS - Delta, shamed into dealing with reality, adjusted their statement this morning, now referring to COVID as "a more manageable respiratory virus."  Millions of citizens around the world could not be reached for comment.)

Comments

[Nikki in nyc]

Stupid people playing stupid games. They are going to find out how stupid they are before long. I hope you get to go on your trip and there are no delays.