I understand that people are hurting economically. And I blame the government for failing to adequately relieve that burden during this emergency. It is penny wise and pound foolish, not to mention cruel and unnecessary.
However, there is also no excuse for people to go around infecting others because of ignorance, obstinance or politics. Donald Trump bears the most blame for that. His cult would listen to him. They worship him. But he has refused to lead them to be responsible and is encouraging them to defy all public health guidelines.
Sadly, it isn’t just the Trump cult. There are a lot of others who just don’t think this virus applies to them and they simply can’t or won’t take even basic precautions like wearing a mask to protect others.
So, here we are, with our society starting to fray badly at the edges:
The complaint came in last month from a resident of Kingston, a city in New York’s Hudson Valley: A local barbershop was still performing haircuts, in violation of New York’s emergency shutdown orders to thwart the coronavirus.
Two days later, a buildings investigator went out to investigate the claim. La Lima Barbershop at 678 Broadway was dark.
Three more visits, on April 13, 17, and 19 turned up the same result: “Appears to be closed,” the inspector wrote on each form.
The complaint was left unresolved until this week, when the proprietor of the shop, Joseph LaLima, was hospitalized for the coronavirus, setting off a furor in the Ulster County city, about 90 miles north of New York City.
Mr. LaLima had never stopped cutting hair, despite Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s order. But he was not doing it in his shop; he was doing in the privacy of his home — in the back of the shop.
“He said do not open up your shops, barbershops, beauty parlors, nail salons, tattoo parlors,” Mr. LaLima said on Friday, referring to the governor. “So I didn’t.”
Mr. LaLima, who spoke just after his release from a four-day hospitalization, began to get agitated. “It said you can work from home,” he said. “678 Broadway is my home!”
But according to state officials, Mr. LaLima’s interpretation of the order does not square with its actual text. The March 21 rule did not just order the closure of the physical spaces where services like manicures and haircuts are performed; it required services like nail-painting and buzz cuts to cease completely.
“These services cannot be provided while maintaining social distance,” the order reads.
In his daily briefing on Friday, Gov. Cuomo denounced Mr. LaLima’s actions without naming him. “You know that is an occupation of close proximity, right? You can’t really socially distance and do a haircut,” the governor said. “That is by definition an up close and personal occupation.”
A few hours after leaving the hospital, Mr. LaLima railed against the governor. He said he had done no wrong, and was simply trying to make a living.
“I am aggravated to the nines,” Mr. LaLima said. “Is Cuomo going to pay me? Is he going to make up the difference? Is he going to pay my taxes? Is he going to pay the heat and electric? Is he going to feed my family?” he asked.
Richard Azzopardi, a senior adviser to the governor, was unmoved by Mr. LaLima’s defense. “There is no excuse to be reckless in a pandemic,” he said.
The coronavirus has killed 31 people in Ulster County, and more than 1,400 people have been infected. Eleven people are currently hospitalized in the county, and health officials fear that some of Mr. LaLima’s clients may be next.
Some of the county’s 55 disease investigators are now trying to trace those customers. According to the barber, many of his clients were police officers and firefighters, whose hair he cut for free.
“I did them a favor!” Mr. LaLima said. “And I didn’t give it to anybody else. I got it from somebody that came into my shop.”
He doesn’t know that, of course. And because he knowingly refused to follow the social distancing guidelines he exposed the health care workers in the hospital to risk and now he’s making contract tracers spend time trying to track down all the people he exposed and those people are going to have to get tested and/or quarantine themselves. And this sort of thing is causing paranoia, anger and suspicion in the community.
Again, I understand the anger and fear associated with the economic distress. I don’t blame people for being upset and worried. But blaming the scientists and the politicians for trying to contain the virus is daft. There’s a lot of misery for which you can blame them but trying to save lives isn’t one of them. It’s immature behavior and frankly embarrassing for these allegedly adult people.
You can’t just put your head in the sand and act as though this emergency isn’t your problem and you can just behave as if it’s normal. This guy was lucky he didn’t die. Good for him. But he easily could have and then what was his family supposed to do? And he could have killed one of his family members as well as the customers and their loved ones as well as total strangers. Why can’t these folks see that?
The social contract in this country has been frayed for a long time. But this has exposed something really awful about too many of us. If we get through this without major social unrest it will be because most Americans are able to understand basic logic and give a damn about their fellow man. It will be no thanks to the minority who don’t.
And by the way: