This was something my mom would say to us growing up. It meant make a decision or stop whining about something. It also meant if you are going to do, then do it!
That is how I feel about our elected leaders right now. Either Poop or Get Off the Pot. Either lead, or step aside and let someone who wants to lead, lead.
It is better to wear a mask.
Please wear a mask.
It is recommended to wear a mask.
If you are going to be around people, you should wear a mask.
Wear a mask to protect your grandma and grandpa.
Wear a mask, blah, blah, blah.
Even the Republican Trumpists, extremely late to the game, and in many ways too little, too late, are starting to say we should wear masks.
But it is all just background noise.
What isn’t happening is requiring masks. Deep down they know we should wear a mask and ought to wear a mask, but they refuse to make it mandatory to wear a mask. Federal government leadership keep pawning off the decision to State government leadership. State government leadership keep pawning off the decision to local governments or school districts. Local governments and schools, not wanting to make the hard decisions, plead with people to wear a mask. There are some exceptions where state and local governments are making the hard decisions, such as the Governor of Texas or Mayor of Indianapolis.
Overall, though, no one who has been elected to make hard decisions are willing to do so out of fear of electoral reprisals. I’m sorry! Your job is not more important than our lives because you can actually find another job, but we can’t find another life once it is gone.
I wear a mask. My husband wears a mask. My kids wear a mask. We wear them to protect those around us. I wish all of you “my rights are being trampled” fellow citizens would start wearing your masks to show you care about us and the country.
In the end though, it is a failure of leadership at all levels. If our elected leaders actually demonstrated leadership by mandating the wearing of masks in public places, inside or out, you actually would be remembered favorably in the long run. Your legacy of being decent and willingness to lead would live on in the history books, long after you are gone.
So, Governors, Mayors, State and Federal Legislators, I beg, plead, and recommend, strongly, you pass laws or sign executive orders, mandating we all wear a mask in all public spaces, in all businesses, in all restaurant kitchens, in all places of worship, in all schools, and anywhere else we congregate outside our homes.
In the end, if you mandate masks, you will be remembered for the lives you’ve saved, rather than the deaths you allowed to happen, all because you didn’t poop or get off the pot!
Personal Reflections of a Middle-Aged Man 