[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by Choro&Swing

My girlfriend spends winters in Ocala training her horse. Her parents live four hours south of Ocala. Both are now in the hospital with Covid-19, and they seem to be going downhill. One is 91, one 85. They don’t know how they were exposed, they say, but her mom has dementia and is quite able to walk around touching things and not wearing a mask. So I’m a bit sensitive about masks these days. I believe in wearing them when around people. Gloves, too.

I read the sheriff’s directive in the newspaper. Twice. I wish he had stated a rationale, such as “I don’t believe masks help,” or “The safety of my employees and the public doesn’t matter to me,” or “I’m afraid of alienating voters if I require masks.”

I found his directive confusing. “All essential personnel (and that’s everyone)” is required to wear masks if the CDC requires it and Human Resources says to comply. Put hasn’t the CDC strongly recommended masks?

Sheriff’s personnel are FORBIDDEN to wear masks for a call to someone who is sick at home and may have Covid-19 AFTER they have been identified. What? Maybe the sheriff simply doesn’t express himself clearly in writing. (Perhaps he means deputies are to stand at a distance without masks while identifying themselves, but then put on masks and gloves before approaching? Maybe this is meant to keep from scaring people. Just a guess.) If I recall correctly, they are also forbidden to wear masks while making arrests. What?

And the public isn’t allowed into the Sheriff’s Department if they ARE wearing masks. If they want to wear masks, they can come in without a mask, request a paper where they can write their phone number, then stand outside wearing their masks until a deputy comes out to see what they want. That’s the policy! What? Are they supposed to hold their breath while standing in line in the lobby? In the post office, every customer wears a mask or becomes a social pariah. But no one who actually has the virus would come into the Sheriff’s Office? Really?

It seems to me that the sheriff has been watching too many misinformed YouTube videos. Or perhaps he knows where his bread is buttered, so to speak, and he wants to keep that butter coming. With all this “good” publicity, maybe he’s hoping for a new job in Washington in some agency. But he won’t have my vote.

Let me mention that I support strong law enforcement and favor chain gangs for looters. I believe blue lives matter. So let’s keep them alive! The sheriff seems to not care about that.

I agree about the GLOVES also. Especially for deputies that will touch their mouths and then people or objects for people to touch. What if they work in that contagious prison then go and sit at McDonalds. Do they or anyone sanitize behind them? I think not. Public servants are PAID to SERVE the people that they interact with. Taxpayers are getting ripped off and killed in Marion Co. Some lawyer - please sue. What if ALL the property owners of Marion Co. refused to send in their checks for property tax? Would that get the Sheriff fired? Just trying to imagine a more perfect world - sorry, I must be day-dreaming.