A month ago, I wrote here about how those on the far-right trying to use "Personal Choice!" as their fake-excuse cry to freedom was utterly empty because pretty much everything was Personal Choice. It's Personal Choice, I wrote, whether or not to jump off a building. And Personal Choice whether or not to cross a busy street in the middle of traffic. It's Personal Choice to wear a seat belt, even though it's the law. You don't have to, you can break the law, it's Personal Choice. Just like it's Personal Choice to follow the admonition on a restaurant that says "No shoes. No shirt. No service." But just because you're making a Personal Choice, I wrote, doesn't mean you're making a good one. James Akers took mere words and put it to action. Akers is a father who went to the local school board meeting in his Dripping Springs Independent School District. Dripping Springs is in Texas, where thanks to anti-vaccination and anti-mask policies of Gov. Greg Abbott and the self-styled “freedom-loving” Personal Choice would-be cowboys have helped the state’s infection level spike problematically. It’s likely that the school board there hasn’t has a parent address them quite like James Akers did the other day. It started out normally, as Mr. Akers took his turn at the microphone. "I do not like the government, or any other entity, telling me what to do," he told the school board members. "But sometimes I've got to push the envelope a little bit. And I've decided I'm not just going to talk about it, I'm going to walk the walk." And so he did. "At work they make me wear this jacket," he said. “I hate it.” And to show how much he hated it, Akers took off his jacket. "They make me wear this shirt and tie," he said. Adding, "I hate it." And so, he took off his tie. And then his jacket. And he continued telling the board how much he hated wearing a lot of the clothes he was obligated to wear, but that the requirement to wear them were put on him by others than himself and his family. And all the while, as he explained this, he took off more clothes. Though he didn’t have many other clothes to take off, other than his shoes and his pants. But they went, too. And he stripped down to his underwear. "It's simple protocol, people,” Akers went on. “We follow certain rules. We follow certain rules for a very good reason.” School board president Barbara Stroud asked him to please put his clothes back on, but Akers wasn’t ready to yet, since he had his point to make in words. "I have every right to drive as fast as I want to," he said. (It’s a Personal Choice, after all…) But he doesn’t. Because he wanted to show that we have rules in society for safety – and wearing masks is no different than any of those safety rules. As you might imagine, James Akers’ presentation got a mixed response from those in attendance at the meeting, with a mixture of cheers and boos. But he made his point, and then put his pants back on. I merely made the point. James Akers walked the walk. I don’t have video of his full presentation. But happily, I do have the end of it. And the Texas news story that covered it. Though “covered” might be the wrong word to use here…
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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