Mask-slipping: Fine the new man-spreaders!

Photo: Jeff Chiu

James Gorman in the NY Times (Is Mask-Slipping the New Man-spreading?):

When I saw Bill Clinton’s mask slip below his nose during the inaugural festivities, I figured, well, it could happen to any of us.

But then John Roberts’s mask was not entirely covering his nose at different points.

And even Barack Obama’s mask dipped below the tip of his nose at one point.

A couple months back, then-President Trump’s economic adviser Larry Kudlow was spotted outside the West Wing with his mask down.

I realized it’s not a Democratic thing. Or a Republican thing. Or an inaugural thing. It’s a male thing. It’s like manspreading, but with masks. Call it manslipping.

Experts continually remind us that to protect ourselves and others against the coronavirus, a mask should cover your face, from the bridge of your nose to under your chin. But too many of us are letting our masks slip.

Women wear masks too, and of course they sometimes slip. But I see a lot more man slippage. I see it not only in news coverage, but in grocery stores and on the street.

It’s not all men, of course. But then, not all men take up two or three subway seats. Something about some men seems to make it difficult to keep that mask where it should be....

Rob's comment:

The worst offenders are coaches in the NFL and the NBA, including the good liberal Steve Kerr above. Like other coaches, he apparently thinks it's okay to let his mask slip whenever he wants to shout something to his players or the referees.

Instead, it sends a message to the public that the pandemic is no big deal and bigshots like them can get away with it. They should be fined by the league or by their teams, but apparently they aren't even trying to enforce the mask mandate.

Speaking of the Warriors, they should shut up about that "Oakland Forever" bullshit, which just shows they still have a bad conscience about dumping Oakland for a new stadium in tonier San Francisco instead of Nowheresville Oakland.

Alex Shultz tried to give the Warriors a reality check on the issue last November, but evidently he was ignored.

It was also a very bad look when the Warriors' broadcasting team kissed the owner's ass on camera during a game. It was good to see Scott Ostler call them on it:

Not a great viewing experience when Joe Lacob gets twice as much screen time as Stephen Curry...Team owner Lacob dropped in on the telecast, to be interviewed during the game on camera. That interview might still be going on. Fitzgerald did most of the relentless grilling of Lacob, demanding to know how his boss could be so generous, competitive and gol-durn funny...

“We’ll let you go at the next break,” Fitzgerald told his boss, and millions of viewers screamed at their TV screens for Kerr to call a timeout. Several breaks later, the love-fest continued.