I saw someone comment recently that the decision to wear a face mask is really a test of somebody’s IQ.

Given that you wear a mask primarily to reduce the risk of transmitting COVID-19 to somebody else, I’d say it’s also an indicator of whether or not you have any compassion for others, especially those risking their lives in the healthcare sector.

Whilst South Africa has already seen some public displays of idiocy by those refusing to wear masks (that dagga activist takes the cake), we’re playing in the minor leagues compared to what’s happening in America.

In the land of the free, the minor inconvenience of having to wear a mask into a shopping mall, for example, is being painted as some assault on all liberties, leading to legions of Karens and Kens (the male version of a Karen, apparently) being ridiculed on social media.

Mashable compiled a list of eight of the most widely shared videos doing the rounds, and let’s start with this wild encounter of a woman shopping at Trader Joe’s in North Hollywood, California.

Apparently, if you ask someone to put on a mask, you’re a ‘Democratic pig’:

pic.twitter.com/G3PXKLQQGw

— D. Giles (@ItsRellzWorld) June 27, 2020

She seems nice.

Next up is a food-flingin’ Karen at a Fiesta Market in Dallas, Texas. She was asked to put on a mask, and responded as follows:

It’s a cloth mask you put on for the duration of your shop, but now she has to go somewhere else and buy her groceries.

On an effort to reward ratio, it just doesn’t add up.

Let’s see our first Ken in action, and it seems fitting that the man in question resides in Florida. After being asked to don a mask before entering a Walmart, things turned physical:

Okay imagine being this much of a Male #Karen lol#Boomer doesn’t wanna wear a mask in the store; so he then Assaults the Employee and Trips and Falls 🤦#KarensStrikeAgain #KarensGoneWild #Karens pic.twitter.com/W2dtL4AnD9

— Chad of the CHAZ (@RealSaleemJuma) June 21, 2020

‘Merica!

Imagine working at a store where you had to deal with these sorts of people?

Let’s up the ante with a really nasty piece of work at a Pier 1 store in Jacksonville, Florida.

Bear in mind that the woman filming this is a cancer patient with a compromised immune system, who is reported to have politely asked the Karen about why she wasn’t wearing a mask.

Let’s leave the state of Florida alone, bearing in mind that it recorded about 5 200 new cases of coronavirus yesterday alone.

We’re entering peak Karen here with this gas store encounter:

I’ve been hearing about “Karen” but hadn’t been around one. I encountered one in the wild tonight and it blew my mind. She spit on an essential worker bc he enforced the rule of wear a mask. In response, she spit on him in. I wanted to cry pic.twitter.com/WxKMgvJvEp

— Jillcattt (@Jillcattt) June 28, 2020

Spitting – the mind boggles.

We shall end with the Karen power move – TAKE ME TO YOUR MANAGER!

Another entitled Karen refuses to wear mask in store, brilliant reaction from the staff #KarenStrikesAgain #KarenGoneWild #karen #Karens #karensgonnakaren pic.twitter.com/WpIFn57new

— Karen Strikes Again ➐ (@KarenStrikes) June 8, 2020

Make sure you’ve watched from the 1:55 mark, when the employee busting a move while spraying disinfectant really rubs salt in the wounds.

Employee many points, Karen zero.

One more for the road? Why not:

Karen coughs on UPS workers when she doesn’t get her own way #KarenStrikesAgain #KarenGoneWild #karen #Karens #karensgonnakaren pic.twitter.com/oTg9IE1RxR

— Karen Strikes Again ➐ (@KarenStrikes) June 29, 2020

Newsflash – no, wearing a mask isn’t going to make you ill from breathing in carbon dioxide. See that garbage debunked here, here, and here.

By the way, that Twitter account, Karen Strikes Again, is a goldmine.

So, folks, let’s all be decent, compassionate humans and wear a face mask in public, mindful of the fact that doing so protects those around us.

Oh, and if you encounter a Ken or Karen in the wild, approach with caution.

[source:mashable]