In 1968 I had graduated from college, been accepted to grad school and had been granted a teaching assistant position with the university.
However Uncle Sam decided that instead, and for the next few years, the government would tell me what my job would be — where I was to live, when I had to go to bed and when I had to get up, what I could eat, what I had to wear, give me vaccines for diseases I’d never heard of, and then send me to Vietnam for no good reason that I could see, where a lot of people wanted to kill me.
I went because it was my duty as a citizen to respond when my government called, like it or not.
Some people now are refusing the government’s mandate to wear a mask so as to help seniors like me and others avoid catching the virus when in a crowded place.
They claim it’s their right to refuse because government is asking too much of them.
Because the mandate infringes too much upon their individual freedom.
Really?
Living in a free society doesn’t mean you get to do whatever you want.
Your individual rights stop when they unduly infringe upon the rights of others or violate the law.
Freedom comes with responsibilities owed to your fellow citizens, to society in general, and to your government.
Peacefully protest the mandate if you wish, but wear your mask to protect others and you until the mandate is changed.
Seniors like me thank you.
Ken Williams
Port Angeles