Did you ever notice how some words change their meaning over time? And how some words can end up meaning the opposite of what they once did?
The word “bad” is a prime example of that. “Bad” used to mean “not good”. Over time, it changed so “bad” actually meant “good”. OK. To be fair, bad still means bad but it also means good. You might be surprised to learn that the word bad changed to meaning good while simultaneously meaning not good back in the mid 1800’s.
Let’s use a more recent example. The term “woke” used to mean that you had awakened. For example, you might say, “I woke from a bad dream.” These days, when I hear the word “woke”, and see the idiotic and destructive behavior associated with it, I nearly always think I must I in a bad dream.
See? Totally opposite.
These types of words are known as “antagonyms”. They’re also referred to as contranyms, auto-antonyms or, for some reason I’m too lazy to research, Janus words. Antagonyms can evoke contradictory or reverse meanings depending on the context.
I think the name antagonym is appropriate, especially when considering the word “woke”. Because it can refer to someone who has been “enlightened” or, if you’re truly enlightened, it refers to an antagonistic, inclusive, mostly-peaceful, Black Lives Matter-supporting asshole.
But this diametric switching of meaning doesn’t just happen with words. It can happen with actions and gestures too. And no. It’s not what you’re thinking. Flipping someone the bird still means the same thing.
If you’re like me, you believe that wearing a mask to prevent COVID does nothing other than give some people the impression that wearing a mask makes them safer. The mask doesn’t actually make them any safer, it just makes some people feel that way.
Now, I realized that using a mask to prevent COVID is like installing a fence to stop mosquitos. So, I didn’t normally bother to wear one. There were, however, times when I had no choice. Like when my local government forced a mask mandate on us. Or if I was at a grocery store, and the manager was particularly militant about masks, it was just easier to wear the mask than to argue with the imbecile in charge.
So, I wore the stupid mask, but I didn’t cover my nose. A lot of people did the same thing. I could tell, just by looking at how someone was wearing a mask, if they were someone who thought for themselves or someone who did what they were told.
Some call it profiling. I call it playing the odds. Because it was a sure bet that if I saw someone wearing a mask, but not covering their nose, they believed in facts, logic and reason. There was no secret sign or, heaven forbid, a handshake. But I knew. I just knew.
That was then.
Today, I was at my local Walmart. I’ve seen what I’m about to relate in other places too, but the Walmart experience got me thinking.
I noticed that some of the employees at Walmart were wearing a mask. Others weren’t. I’d estimate that better than half of the employees I saw weren’t wearing masks. So, there was no Walmart policy saying that “associates” had to wear one.
My cashier happened to be a mask wearer. Since there was no store policy mandating it, her decision to wear a mask was totally her idea. But here’s the thing, she had it pulled down beneath her nose.
This makes no sense whatsoever.
Because, if you’re someone who believes in the magical protective powers of masks, then you probably listened when the powers-that-be instructed you in proper mask wearing. So, you’d know that they think that wearing a mask without covering your nose is a big mask-wearer faux pas. Hell, even I know they said that, and I was barely paying attention.
It’s pretty obvious that anyone who is still wearing a mask must really believe in their protective powers. And anyone who believes in the magical protective powers of masks must know that, for maximum magical protection, you have to cover your nose. They have to know. Because they were the same people giving me the stink-eye when I wore my mask the same way.
I realize that people have different reasons for wearing a mask. Some may wear a mask because they have underlying medical conditions or are living with someone who is susceptible to infection. In those cases, people are willing to do whatever they can, regardless of how ridiculous and ineffective it may be. However, for most people, the main reason they wore a mask is because Fauci scared them into doing it.
For whatever reason, if at this point you’re still wearing a mask, then you’ve completely drunk the Kool-Aid and believe that they will protect you from COVID.
Which is why I have such a hard time understanding how anyone would voluntarily wear a mask all day, yet wear it in a such a way they know will nerf all its magical protective powers.
There are few things that leave me speechless. But this did. For about ten minutes I was utterly gobsmacked.
What the hell was she thinking?
I imagine what was going on in her mind as she drove to work in her car, by herself, while fully masked, was something like this. “Well, I’m not sure if I should take my mask off. So, I’m just going to let a few of the germs get through. If I don’t get too sick, then I guess it’s safe to take it off completely.”
But I shouldn’t be surprised. Because someone like that abandoned common sense and logic a long time ago. After all, wearing a mask without covering your nose isn’t a whole lot different than wearing a mask in a restaurant…but only when walking to and from your table.
It’s also like believing that if you remove the condom halfway through sex, it’s still going to be 50% effective.
A year ago, wearing a mask beneath your nose indicated that you didn’t believe everything you were told and that you understood the ridiculousness of wearing something for the sole purpose of making those around you feel safer.
But now it means something completely opposite. The people half-wearing masks these days are not the same people who were half-wearing masks a year ago.
Today, if you see someone voluntarily wearing a mask that doesn’t cover their nose, you’re looking at someone who has totally abandoned logic and reason. There’s no written rule, but you can look at someone like that and you know. You just know.
Because today, an action that could once be used to identify independent thinkers, now identifies people who aren’t thinking at all.
I had some hosting problems this past week so some of you may have had trouble viewing my last article. If you missed it, here’s a handy link: The Reckoning
