Time to trust others to make responsible choices

First Lady Jill Biden removed a once essential article of clothing, then exclaimed “We feel naked.”

I suppose she might have made that statement years ago as she removed her bra or pantyhose for the last time once they had run their course. Instead she was taking off her face mask. I’m pretty sure the First Lady still wears a bra and maybe even pantyhose a good deal of the time, but I bet she’s glad that mask is history now.

The announcement that the Centers for Disease Control had revised its recommendation allowing for vaccinated individuals to shed the mask in most situations both outdoors and indoors got a good number of folks by surprise. Could our governor have been one of them?

We’ve been working at “warp speed” since this time last year on developing and rolling out a vaccine to stop the deadly COVID-19 virus and now that it’s a reality due to the work of two administrations and sacrificing public, it should come as no surprise that many of us are more than ready to get back the freedoms we gave up.

The governor and her Public Heath Department on Friday also dropped the mask requirement for those who’ve been vaccinated and it has become clear that finally moving forward in this long nightmare has become politically expedient for both President Biden and Gov. Lujan Grisham.

Lots of people’s heads were about to spin off their shoulders as the announcement was made last week.

“How can we be sure if everyone running around without a mask has been vaccinated,” they worried. “Do they expect us to play the role of vaccination police and query everyone on whether or not they’re vaccinated?”

Some of us asked why we were put in the role of mask police as this thing all started and the answer is really quite simple: Allow people to make their own choices and trust that we respect each other enough to make good choices. Simply put, if you made the right choice to get vaccinated, get rid of that mask and start living your life again. If you made the wrong choice, it’s possible that you and others like you will suffer the consequences.

Those chances have always been pretty slim for most of us all along and thanks to those who got vaccinated the chances are even smaller.

Patience has worn thin and people have already begun letting their masks droop or have left them in the car.

People have already made up their minds on masks and getting back to life as usual this summer. Our leaders have suddenly awakened to the old saying, “Lead, follow or get the hell out of the way.”

We’re weary of following blindly.

Karl Terry writes for Clovis Media Inc. Contact him at:

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