If what is going on in this photo is not immediately apparent, I’ll explain.
- The photo was taken in the pharmacy section of a local Walmart.
- As is all-too-typical these days, the pharmacy staff are masked and stand behind a government-mandated, plexiglass barrier that reaches down to within inches of the counter.
- As a result, when a staff member says anything, their voices are muffled by both their mask and the plexiglass barrier.
- The elderly woman in the photo is hearing impaired. The only way she can hear and understand what the pharmacy staff member is saying is to stick her head under the barrier.
At her age, doing so is undoubtedly difficult, embarrassing and painful.
The hearing impaired suffer
The never-ending COVID crisis has been hard on everyone. But it is especially — and often needlessly — hard on the hearing impaired. Here is yet another example:
- Many totally deaf people learn to read lips. As a result, you may have had a seemingly normal conversation with a deaf person and not realized it.
- However, if you are wearing a face mask, a deaf person has no way of knowing what you are saying.
- Making matters worse, it is not as though deaf people are wearing signs around their necks that say, I’m deaf; I need to see your face.
This creates a situation for deaf people that is both awkward and embarrassing, and leads to them not getting the level of service they deserve. But it could be worse.
Imagine, if you will, that a police officer mistakes you for a suspect he has been chasing. He tells you to put your hands up and get on the ground, but you can’t understand a word he is saying. The officer doesn’t know you are deaf. To him, you are just a person disobeying lawful instructions and resisting arrest. Will you end up being tased or shot as a result?
When the COVID crisis first went down, the sheriff of a neighboring county ordered his deputies to not wear face masks. People were aghast at this apparent disregard for public safety. But, guess what? Getting COVID beats getting shot.
Being at the mercy of the unqualified
The situations described here examples of what happens when you give unelected bureaucrats the power to make rules governing situations they do not fully understand. There are always unintended consequences. And people suffer needlessly as a result.
“But we’re in an emergency situation now,” you may say. But since when has suspending the rights guaranteed by the Constitution ever been a good idea?
- It wasn’t during the Civil War when Lincoln suspended the Writ of Habeas Corpus.
- It wasn’t during World War II when thousands of Japanese Americans were interned for the crime of having the wrong ancestors.
The fact is, taking a big, steaming dump on the Constitution is never a good idea. Or, as one person put it, If you allow the government to break the law during an emergency, they will continue to create emergencies in order to break the law.