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The Outside Mask Person was my pandemic breaking point. As I wrote recently, the masked man who screamed “f--ing bitch”  at me for walking maskless past him on the sidewalk made me lose all tolerance for people who refuse to go by the science of COVID and live in irrational fear.

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Since then, I’ve been taking stealth photos of — what I call — the “Outside Mask Person” in order to document how the CDC has created psychological trauma in Americans. 

The Centers for Disease Control ordered Americans in 2020 to wear masks when outside and coming anywhere within 6 feet of another person. The agency never gave an explanation for the guidance since there is no evidence that the novel coronavirus can spread between people who are walking, running or biking past each other outside.

Finally, under pressure by a frustrated public, the CDC acknowledged Tuesday that its order to wear masks for over a year was complete nonsense. This is the new CDC chart on masks:

I won’t even discuss here what most media outlets are reporting that the new CDC guidance on maskless outside relief  is mostly for vaccinated people. I refuse to engage in any government order about wearing masks after getting the vaccine. 

As you know, Facebook has censored me for saying that Pres. Biden is worsening vaccine hesitancy by wearing a mask now. He added to this drama by walking to his press conference about the new CDC outdoor guidelines by wearing a mask while walking alone outdoors.

The president is a role model for people who can’t think for themselves. He walks alone outside with a mask every time a camera is nearby.

And I was appalled when I watched the recent CNN special on the Trump administration response to COVID and saw Dr. Anthony Fauci walking outside -- wearing a mask! -- with Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Two vaccinated people who have enormous influence with the public giving the false impression that they could spread of get COVID outside together and fully inoculated. While 20% of the public refuses to get a vaccine, these public figures are using fear mongering and control tactics that are damaging to Americans. 

I’ve been running or walking outside in multiple states for the last year and never worn a mask. But I notice how the outdoor mask people will cross the street to avoid me or pull up their masks to pass. As I wrote a couple weeks ago: 

Of course, it is impossible to get COVID in the seconds it takes to pass someone on the street. But these Outside Mask People don’t care about science and logic.  

Every time I see an Outside Mask Person, I want to invade their 6-10 feet of space to teach them, “It’s not pollen. It’s not falling out of the sky into your throat. You can take off the stupid mask.” But instead, I say it to myself in my head, roll my eyes and bite my tongue. 

The psychology of what has happened to Americans' individual sense of freedom is, I believe, that they have developed “learned helplessness” from the initial national lockdown last March. As I wrote earlier this month, I first learned of this concept last June from Dr. Stephen Hahn when he was the FDA Commissioner. 

I said to Hahn that the biggest challenge was educating the public on what was a legitimate fear about COVID and what was a panicked response from a nation traumatized by the lock downs. 

“This county has a psychological crisis more than the health crisis. They have some sort of PTSD from the lockdowns,” I said. “Like my parents are still wiping down grocery bags after they’re delivered. People are terrified of everything.”

“You’re absolutely right,” Dr. Hahn said. “They have learned helplessness.”

The CDC updated its guidance on transmission on surfaces recently, but I’ve not noticed any changes in individual behavior with hand washing or companies removing the hand sanitizer. Remember, there has not been one single case in the world of someone getting COVID from a surface. Not. One. 

Last week, I saw a Trader Joe’s employee spraying sanitizer and wiping down the carts. Businesses are wasting so much money on the CDC guidelines that were never based on science and updated too late to shift policies. 

I expect this new outside mask order will not change people’s behavior. Learned helplessness is not an easy disorder to treat with one written document from the CDC, a government agency that has flip flopped too much credibility, and Biden announcing it while wearing a mask outdoors.

Recall the concept:

Learned helplessness is a psychological term coined in the late 1960s from studies that showed people who repeatedly face negative and uncontrollable situations will stop trying to change things, even when they are able to do so. 

Now that the CDC has finally conceded that the outside mask order was nonsense, I’ll go for a run today and see if the Outside Mask Person is still on the sidewalks and paths, despite the new guidance.

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