I'm starting to like my life as a Norman thug. It's an entertaining exercise in social signalling that I wouldn't normally have had the opportunity to play around with. After all, how often in life are we encouraged to dress up like masked avengers? When were we ever encouraged to take that step from being friendly and approachable to being scary looking and unapproachable? Menacing behaviour is in some jurisdictions a crime, yet it's a free for all at the moment. We can go way further towards menacing than we could only a few months ago, and I think it's an opportunity we should all take advantage of.
I'm certainly glad I've taken the opportunity to push the envelope as far towards unapproachable as possible. It's fun, the dressing up, the determined walk, the menacing grip on my umbrella or cane. People shy out of my way. Yet, there's not a single thing that anyone can object to. The mask is mandatory. The sun glasses are legal. The umbrella is also legal. Walking briskly is legal, and there're no rules against carrying our umbrella like a club, or write some slogan on our mask.
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| Norman thug |
In my experimenting, I've found ambivalent signalling the best kind of signalling. There's no point in being openly for or against mask-wearing rules. Rather, the goal is to make other people wish for the good old days when friendly and approachable still was a thing, and have them go to bed praying that no-one is so crazy as to make this mask wearing thing permanent.
For maximum effect, I wear my mask of the beast just below my nose. That way, no-one can tell if I'm for or against the mask mandate. The mask may have slipped. Who knows? The only way to find out would be to approach me and ask, but no-one has. They seem to prefer to keep a polite distance.
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| Mask of the beast |
I also carry a few spare masks in my breast pocket. That signals compliance and a certain level of helpfulness. Anyone lacking a mask can get one from me. All they need to do is to ask politely, and I will be more than willing to give one away.
To further muddle the picture, I'm as polite as can be. I don't deliberately bump into people. I excuse myself when appropriate, and I greet people I know in a friendly manner. If anyone is under the impression that I'm somehow dangerous, they're jumping to conclusions based on prejudices.
Here again, we can take advantage of some of the political correct nonsense that we've been told over the years. My nine year old son captured it perfectly the other day when he told me that we mustn't judge people by their appearance. Someone looking like a brute may actually be a nice guy. However, I promptly set my son straight. I told him that if someone looks like a thug, chances are that the person really is a thug. Conversely, if someone looks like a nice old lady, that's probably because the person is a nice old lady. Very rarely do we get these things wrong, and to start doubting our judgement is to go down a dangerous path of self doubt.
But this self doubt is now so prevalent that we can take advantage of it and dress up like brutes without anyone ever daring to point out that we may scare people by our appearance. After all, who wants to admit to everyone that they are full of prejudice, thinking that we are brutes just because we dress up as such?
This political correct nonsense is also taught to police officers. That's why I can walk past police agents without being approached. They prefer to ignore me. Normal social interaction in which a police agent would make a friendly remark about toning things down a bit is no longer possible. They are trapped. They're not allowed to trust their instincts. They must enforce rules to the letter, but must not step out of line when it comes to judging people by appearance.
This is hardly the life most police officers signed up for. Their childhood dream was to protect people's liberties and properties, not chase people around for not wearing their masks while ignoring evidence of impending anarchy.
Yesterday, my wife and I drove past the spot where we were apprehended the other day for being too far from home, and sure enough, there was a police car parked there. However, the officers were merely sitting in their car with doors open. They looked uncomfortable where they sat with their masks properly in place.
Being told to enforce nonsensical laws while at the same time being attacked as racist and evil is somehow making police officers reluctant to do their job with the sort of enthusiasm and flare that is required to be effective. Who would have guessed? But there's a simple way out of the mess. There are private sector jobs for those who want to protect liberty and property. Being a police officer isn't the only way to earn a living in that business. I suspect the main reason police officers aren't resigning in droves is that they would have to accept lower pay. But if things continue on the path that we're heading, a step down in income may be a small price to pay for peace of mind, and a job that makes sense.
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| Private security guard |
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