The Leaking American Dream

“Freedom is something that dies unless it’s used.” Hunter S. Thompson

As we go back into lockdown (not a prediction, bubba, we’re going whether we like it or not), let’s reflect on the American dream and this pandemic. As any medical expert will tell you, nothing spreads a virus like arrogance, and Americans are hands-down leaders when it comes to staring death in the eye — and often times dying as a result.

This was personified recently by the woman in Galveston Texas, an island city known for having one of the most dangerous neighbourhoods in the United States. This woman wasn’t dangerous—or dead, for that matter. If anything, she was what trained and focused journalists describe as, well, silly.

A scuffle ensued, and White was arrested for trespassing and resisting arrest.

The woman in this case, Terry White, 65, entered a bank without wearing a mask. She argued she was in a public place, and therefore didn’t need to wear one . The arresting officer begged to differ. He explained that banks aren’t public places. Furthermore, any business can dictate the level of safety they want in their establishment. If they say “Wear a mask,” you don’t get to decide whether it pertains to you or not.

That upset Terry White who refused to co-operate. A scuffle ensued, and White was arrested for trespassing and resisting arrest.

White told a local station, KTRK, she was glad she stood her ground. “I won’t wear a diaper on my face,” she said, feeling pretty sure of herself after the governor lifted the mask mandate that very same day.

If you’re going to play fast and loose with a pandemic, Mexican restaurants are the way to go.

Governor Abbott made the announcement at Montelongo’s Mexican Restaurant in Lubbock where, no doubt, many laws are announced. If you’re going to play fast and loose with a pandemic, Mexican restaurants are the way to go.

Terry White thought banks were the way to go, since she was only there taking her money out. It was her little protest against masks and police state rule. She still needed a mask, unfortunately, which she didn’t have, forcing the attending officer to put her under arrest.

While she was on the floor being handcuffed, White yelled, “Police brutality right here, people,” to which other patrons said, “No, no it’s not.” Feisty though restrained, White called the patrons “cheap.” If you’re going to call someone “cheap,” banks are the places to do it.

White now faces trespassing charges and resisting arrest, a Class A misdemeanour for a first-time offence. If she’s had priors, it could mean jail and up to $4,000 in fines. Knowing White, it’s hard to imagine she hasn’t been in trouble before. She’s never worn a mask, claiming this pandemic is actually a “plandemic,” meaning it was invented to trample human rights and keep citizen’s money in savings accounts.

They supported her arrest — and masks in general — probably because they’ve seen the latest COVID numbers. The death rate now in America is over half a million and counting.

That’s just evil in her estimation. What self-respecting Texan doesn’t support inalienable rights? Well, for starters, the people at that bank in Galveston didn’t. They supported her arrest — and masks in general — probably because they’ve seen the latest COVID numbers. The death rate now in America is over half a million and counting.

Once you surpass the mortality rate of three major wars combined, you’re not talking beliefs. You’re talking facts, hard cold ones that don’t change because you cause a scene in a bank.

It also doesn’t help your cause going into a third wave, better known as “a day of reckoning” in most infectious disease circles.

I remember an infectious disease specialist telling one time that “a resistant viral strain comes in on every international flight.” Maybe that’s what encouraged former President Trump to close down America’s borders. The operative word, though, was — and is — “flight.”

Sometimes you gotta see “your babies,” even if your babies are in their forties, and don’t like being called babies.

Flights themselves carry viruses, which many Americans neither accept nor appreciate. Sometimes you gotta see “your babies,” even if your babies are in their forties, and don’t like being called babies.

Last Friday, there were over 1.5 million passengers on flights both domestically and internationally. In fact, more people travelled to Hawaii this month than when the pandemic started. Once in their seats, most removed their masks, figuring it’s the same as in restaurants. How do you eat with a mask on? How do you see your babies if you don’t fly?

You still have to wonder how over a million people can be travelling for emergencies. Perhaps we have to define emergency. Or maybe that’s the point. People don’t need it defined as much as accepted. They’re flying because, as one airline passenger pointed out: “We’ve had a bellyful of this ‘rona.” He and his family were going to Costa Rica. If you’re doing to break quarantine rules, Costa Rica is the way to go. Dayton, Ohio, isn’t bad either, if you just want to fly somewhere.

And who’s to say this coronavirus is as deadly as everyone makes out? Certainly not Governor Abbott. He wants things up and running regardless of the threat, something Texans respect. Better to get out there and test this whole contagion business, putting to rest any notion that people might die — even if they are dying.

Besides, opening things up has a brave attitude attached, something that’s served Texans well during such events as the Alamo. Heroes are born in such circumstances, much like Terry White, a civilian who just wanted her money back. Sometimes you have to put your foot down and call a pandemic a “plandemic.”

Freedom, in other words, is meant for our enjoyment. Like what I saw at a local mall last week. There in the aisles were couples with baby carriages, chatting up a veritable storm with other parents with baby carriages. You could call it a moment of beckoning before a third-wave lockdown comes along and we’re back home worrying about our babies.

Once people are vaccinated, everything opens up, and masks can be tossed at the side of the road.

Meanwhile, once the third wave hits, more businesses will go under, airlines will request major bailouts, and Terry White of Galveston, Texas will still struggle with the notion that banks aren’t public. They should be public, darn it, especially if you don’t want to wear a mask.

And who cares if America has the worse casualty record in the world? Vaccines are coming. Once people are vaccinated, everything opens up, and masks can be tossed at the side of the road.

Except it won’t be that simple, even for Terry White. Vaccines take weeks to start protecting you, and you can still pass on viruses. Who’s listening to that? Who wants to moderate their behaviour when they can go to a mall and have a Lost Weekend?

People will still die from this virus — not out of ignorance — but out of insolence and arrogance. It’s where the American Dream supersedes reason, and those who question reason may one day be lead away on gurneys or in baby carriages.

Of course it’s stupid. This whole notion of freedom without reason is stupid. Yet, for some Americans, it’s all they’ve got. It’s what gets them up in the morning. That’s what makes freedom worthwhile.

That’s the American Dream, leaking as it is.

Robert Cormack is a novelist, satirist and blogger. His first novel “You Can Lead a Horse to Water (But You Can’t Make It Scuba Dive) is available through Skyhorse Press. You can read Robert’s other articles and stories at robertcormack.net