The Secret Sign to Show You're Vaccinated

I recently came across a rant that got me thinking. The person was suggesting that, since the world is reopening whether we like it or not, we (vaccinated liberals, specifically) should come up with a code to indicate that we’re unmasked because we’re vaccinated, and not because we don’t care about the well-being of others. The truth is, there’s already a secret sign in place.

Since the pandemic started, America has had droves of people refusing to wear masks, many of whom are bold enough to try to force others to not wear masks either. We’ve all seen the videos of some poor cashier, flight attendant, and even other customer’s being berated for wearing a mask and trying to keep their distance. I don’t believe this is a political indicator, but rather the golden rule of customer service running amok. “The customer is always right,” they say. They lied. The customer is almost never right and if I had a business to run, I would run it with that in mind. Luckily, I’ve never been approached about continuing to wear a mask, and yes, I’m fully vaccinated.

What really surprised me about the whole situation (and really shouldn’t have) is the phrase “My body, my choice” being thrown around so frequently. For those not in the know, this is the slogan used by the pro-choice side of the abortion argument. Interestingly, I’ve also heard pro-choice being thrown around in regards to masking and vaccination. I say it shouldn’t have surprised me because, even though the pro-choice on abortions group typically includes exactly none of the pro-choice vaccinators. But when you care only about yourself, with even that being questionable since they aren’t actually taking care of themselves, co-opting slogans from groups you disagree with for your own perverted use isn’t really that much of a leap. Perhaps I should phrase that I should have used was caring about your own convenience and comfort, but I digress…

I am, admittedly, perhaps being too harsh and relying on stereotypes. Maybe there are good reasons to avoid the guidelines, but seeing someone almost die from an allergic reaction to the vaccine— as was expected going in— literally begging people to continue getting vaccinated, I find those good reasons are difficult to imagine. I haven’t heard a single good argument against standing by some level of the CDC’s guidelines.

So here’s the secret signal to indicate that you’re vaccinated and following all the rules of social distancing. It’s a little convoluted, so take notes if needed. Start by continuing to carry your mask with you. This tells people that you believe it’s better to be safe than sorry. Now comes the tricky part: when someone asks you to put on your mask, you put on your mask. There is to be no huffing and puffing or arguing that your vaccinated. There is to be absolutely no yelling. This isn’t a violation of your freedom and it’s not a fight to be fought. Just put on the mask.

You see, you have to remember that all of these people working are humans and just trying to do their job. All companies have rules in place and these rules are no different. You wouldn’t like it if someone came into your work and yelled at you over rules they don’t agree with that you have no control over, so don’t expect to challenge the rules when you’re the customer. If you’ve never worked before and can’t relate, maybe just don’t be a customer for a while.

Tl;dr - The secret symbol to show that you’ve been good during the pandemic or have been vaccinated is to put on your mask when asked. No hesitation or arguments. Just do it.