Tag: wearing a mask

Surveys And Focus Groups Aren’t Reliable

Most blood collection organizations
have dropped mask requirements
both for donors
and for volunteers/workers.

The number of blood donors
have decreased.
Significantly.

I’m not surprised.

The people who care enough
about others
to donate blood
are also
likely to be
the people who care enough
about others
to mask.

And they are also likely
to be the people
who align themselves
with organizations
that care about others.

A non-masking organization
doesn’t truly care
about others.

I know this.
You likely know this.

Why didn’t blood collection organizations
know this?

Because, I suspect,
they listened to non-donor feedback
on surveys.

Non-donors wouldn’t share
the true reason they weren’t donating
– most of them
don’t give a sh*t about other people.

They had to give a different excuse.
And the ‘easy’ excuse
for non-donors was
they’d have to wear a mask.

People lie on surveys
and in focus groups.
I’ve seen that happen.
Often.

Ask yourself
if the results
are logical.

And use those results
cautiously.

We Can’t Afford To Be Ill

I can’t afford to be ill.

I live in Canada.
My stance doesn’t have
anything to do
with the financial costs
of medical care.

It has to do with time.
I don’t have the spare time
to be ill.
I don’t WANT to spend
time being ill.

I have books to write
(products to produce),
businesses to run,
other things I’d prefer
to do.

So I take precautions.
I wear a mask.
I wash my hands.
I improve ventilation
in spaces I occupy
(I have a personal air purifier
I hang on an lanyard
and wear around my neck.)

All of this
takes mere seconds.

I can then focus on other things.

And I save countless days
not being ill.

You and I can’t afford to be ill.

Preventing illness
has a huge return on investment.

Make that investment.

If The Situation Changes…

Some dumba$$es are refusing
to wear masks
in areas thick with smoke.

They took a
no mask stance
for COVID
and
they’re applying that
to EVERY situation.

They’re f*cking up
their health
because they won’t
reevaluate their decisions
when situations change.

We do this in business also.

We decide never to use
a supplier,
for exampl,e
because we don’t like the owner.

The ownership changes
and we continue
to not use the supplier.

Because we are too stubborn
or lazy
to reevaluate the situation.
And that might cost us
money and/or other resources.

When a situation changes,
revisit decisions
related to that situation.

It is NOT All Or Nothing

I was wearing a mask
while shopping in a grocery store.

A woman stopped me
and told me
I should stay home
if I was so scared of COVID.

It isn’t all or nothing.

We can wear masks
and continue to do
all the things
we love to do.

The all or nothing thinking
is EVERYWHERE
and it often hampers our success
and, in this lady’s case,
threatens our lives.

We don’t have to, for example,
source
all our supplies locally
or source
all our supplies internationally.

We can source some supplies
locally
and some supplies
internationally.

We don’t have to be
a purely charitable organization
or
a purely for-profit organization.

We can have a charitable component
in our for-profit organization.

It is not all or nothing.
Some is an option.

The Little Actions Count

“Masks only make a tiny difference,”
a friend told me yesterday.

They might only make a tiny difference
but that tiny difference
taken every day
multiplied by three years
has resulted in me
only having had COVID once
while my friend, a non-mask-wearer,
has had it three times.

Those multiple infections
means he can no longer walk
around the block
without needing a rest.

(And yet he still mocks people
who wear masks.)

Small actions make a difference
over time.

I pick up a bit of garbage
every day.
Our neighborhood,
years later,
is now quite a bit cleaner
than neighborhoods located
close to ours.

I post an extra promo
on social media
every day.
My sales have stayed level
while the sales
of many writing buddies
have dropped.

Little actions matter.

Be Open To Changing Your Mind

When I first heard about
COVID-19,
I thought it would be nothing
I had to worry about.
I believed it would be stopped
before it expanded.
I thought it wouldn’t reach
my corner of the planet.

I was wrong.
Clearly.

I tracked the spread
and realized d@mn quickly
it would be a danger
to the people I love.

I changed my position,
ordered the best masks
I could obtain,
donned makeshift masks
while I waited for the order
to arrive,
long before mask-wearing was enforced.

Being open
to changing my mind
helped keep myself
and my loved ones safe.

Right now,
you and I are likely clinging
to stances
that will be proven
to be wrong.

Being open to changing
those stances
could help save
our growing businesses,
our relationships,
and perhaps
even our lives.

Have the strength
and the intelligence
to change your mind.

Know When To Step Back

Yesterday, I was waiting
in the lobby of a hotel.
I was masked.
I’m double vaxxed.

There was a masked Mom with her newborn
also waiting.

A man walked into the lobby coughing.
He wasn’t masked.

I gave him a dirty look
and tapped my nose
(the universal sign
for wear your d*mn mask).

He smirked at me
and sat in the chair
next to the newborn.

At which point,
…I did nothing.

There was nothing to do.
The man knew he should be
wearing a mask.
He knew he was putting that sweet baby
at risk.
But legally, he had a right
to do exactly that.

We do what we can
to make the world
a better, safer, more wonderful place.

But when we can’t accomplish that,
we have to step back.
(And hope for the best.)

Know when a battle
is unwinnable.
Know when to stop fighting.