We’re Tired of Being The “Reasonable” Ones

Ignorance is holding us hostage.

Jessica Wildfire
6 min readJul 28, 2021

My father-in-law got thrown out of a restaurant.

His crime?

He asked the staff to wear their masks properly, i.e. not hanging down under their noses and tucked under their chins. The manager came out and ordered him to leave. “You don’t tell my employees what to do.”

The next day, a guy walked up to him and told him to take off his mask. “You don’t need that if you have faith.”

My dad-in-law lost his cool. “That’s just stupid,” he said.

Then he walked off.

You might think that sounds unreasonable, maybe even close-minded. Hear me out. My in-laws have lost 12 friends to Covid. They both caught it last December. Luck spared them. They got vaccinated the minute they could. Only a few of our other relatives have.

This happens a lot in the south, but it’s not limited to one region. You can’t ask anyone to show concern for someone else anymore. Apparently it makes you a condescending snowflake.

My father-in-law is a lifelong republican.

He’s had enough.

The high road doesn’t work.

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