As of December 10, Arizona had the highest rate of virus spread in the nation. Yavapai, Apache and Navajo counties all have two consecutive weeks where all three indicators of viral spread have gone into the “red zone,” and the statewide rate of infection is 500 per 100,000. Governor Ducey decides not to close businesses, because “it is believed” (notation of the shitty passive voice is added) that most of the spread comes from family gatherings. –Wikipedia
A month later:
Coronavirus: Arizona is leading the world in the rate of new cases
Yesterday, at the major chain gas station, the guy in front of me in line had no mask. When I got to the cashier, I said:
“Listen. I’m spending $70 with you today. I do it often. But if you don’t start enforcing your own Masks Mandatory policy (pointing at the big red sign on the door), I’m going to stop doing that, okay? Just FYI.”
The nice Navajo woman behind the register, who was wearing a mask herself, affected to not hear me, even though she went a little rigid, and definitely did. Probably she’s been told to not talk about it. Okay.
Today at the major chain grocery, a guy came crashing up in line behind me, without a mask, without even pretending to keep six feet apart. I said nothing, just stepped far away from him in a pointed way. For reference, I’m guessing 15-20% of the total customer population in the store at the time consisted of dweebs like him with no mask.
I took my groceries over past Customer Service.
I pointed to the biggest sign in front of me and I asked the guy:
“What does Masks Required mean?”
Again, it was a Navajo worker.
He looked up with a sort of sigh, and said:
“It means that we’d really like it, if our customers wore masks”. He paused, considering, and then said more quietly, “If I even say anything to anyone about wearing a mask, I will be in a lot of trouble”.
I thanked him, with an extra dose of sincerity, and I left.
Why would these corporations put up signs apparently absolutely mandating mask-wearing, then do nothing to enforce it, and tell their at-risk employees to shut up about the whole question?
You know why.
They’ve judged that putting up a fake policy, not enforcing it, and co-opting their employees into keeping quiet about it on pain of job death, is simply going to be the most profitable thing in the end.
Meanwhile their lobbyists will go to Washington and die in a ditch about “limiting liability” for them–blocking any attempt by the surviving family members of people who caught the disease in their stores to get any measure of economic justice over their lying, cynical policy.
Ladies and gentleman, this is capitalism at its most nakedly obscene.
Profits before people every time and no matter what.
Most all of what happens in this country day after day, before COVID and after, is amplification and elaboration of the same underlying philosophy and policy, and any signage or advertising that tells you how much some business cares about you is very much more likely than not to be complete bullshit propaganda designed to fuck up your natural mind.
Resist.