By Marta Gouger

Yes, we’re in a pandemic.

Yes, we’ve been at home for almost nine months, coincidentally the time of a woman’s pregnancy. Yet, for most of us there will be no baby to bring relief.

Some of us have just developed a COVID gut.

But does all the crankiness give us an excuse to lose our manners when we do go out in public?

NO!

Driving is one place where people have gone crazy. They lay on the horn like it will make a difference to the car in front of them. They are just angry and it shows everywhere they go.

On a busy Saturday morning in Brodheadsville, I was making a left turn at a T intersection on Route 115.

Traffic is always crazy in the area, so I usually try to avoid those cross-traffic turns.

I should have this time, because the traffic wasn’t letting up. Every time one direction was clear, someone started coming in the other direction.

I am more conservative in cases like this because I know what it’s like to slam on the brakes when someone pulls out in front of me.

The driver in the big blue pickup behind me didn’t appreciate that.

First he pulled right up on my bumper so that I could see nothing but grille in my mirror.

He started on the horn and I desperately looked for an opening in the traffic so I could dart out.

When I finally did, in my rearview mirror, I saw him spin out and drive over the grass on the right, fishtailing all the way as he plowed onto the road and sped away.

I was shaken … and thankful he was going the other way.

I have become practiced in going the other way when I encounter someone who has their mask pulled down in the grocery store. The Saturday before Thanksgiving was the worst I have encountered.

At the front of the store, a security guard greets people at the door. If they are not wearing a mask, he politely offers one. I heard the gentleman behind me murmur something as he walked into the store - maskless.

When I walked into the store, a woman had her mask pulled down to her chin, and was bending down to help her child. I foolishly thought she would put her mask back in place. She didn’t.

I encountered her several times throughout the store.

Each time I backed up and went the other way.

In other aisles I saw people who wore the mask over their mouths, but had them pulled down below their noses. Maybe they don’t know that’s not the right way to wear it, but I think they do.

I was simmering by the time I got home. I called the store and talked to one of the managers. She said there is nothing they can do. She said the few times workers have said something to shoppers about masks it didn’t end well.

However, she said they had no problem with customers telling other customers they should wear their masks properly. Frankly, I don’t know if I have the guts to walk up to a stranger and chastise them.

My sister-in-law works in a salon and they have no qualms about telling people they can’t do their hair if they refuse to wear a mask.

One could argue that masks aren’t necessary, but why take a chance?

By now you surely know someone who has or had COVID-19. Maybe that person had just a few symptoms and maybe they didn’t recover.

There are people who have to wear a mask all day long. What’s an hour of your time to be courteous to people? What if you had to go for surgery and the doctors and nurses didn’t wear a mask?

So what do you have to lose by donning a mask for an hour?

If the experts are wrong, you have nothing to lose.

If they are right, maybe everything.