We’re all dealing with a pandemic. And the key is to stay safe and stay sane. And the first part is by far more important.
What I mean is, people are going stir crazy. Kids can’t do normal kid stuff like play spin the Lysol or photocopy their butts without extreme decontamination. So I’m personally much more forgiving about people trying to stay sane. If you need to blow an airhorn at 9 pm or dance nude in your front yard or paint your house neon green, then knock yourself out. If you get relief singing off-key Nordic nursery rhymes, have at it. If you want to hit golf balls in the park and are doing it responsibly, I don’t care.
However, your freedom, including your freedom to stay sane, ends when it becomes a safety issue for others. If you go walk within 6′ of someone when there is plenty of room to avoid them and they are incapable of giving space, then you should expect to be punched in the face. Because it is not unreasonable for that person to assume you are trying to hurt them. If you go dancing naked on the sidewalk, again, you should be prepared to deal with violence from the clothed people you are endangering.
It is normal to be rebellious and upset in a quarantine situation. But your rebellion and anger should not be directed at your fellow inmates. If you are incapable of functioning in a society during a period of crisis, you should not be surprised if the society removes you. I got nothing but patience for my incarcerated siblings. But if your actions are endangering the lives of others, it’s no longer a freedom and it should be dealt with.
You can have a right to bear arms. But if you went to a crowded space and began juggling loaded handguns, you expect a negative reaction. That’s the situation we’re in now. It’s not a cold or flu. It is dangerous to others and the efforts to stop its spread have the force of law behind it.
Stay safe and sane.
