MY OPINION
MASKING THE DIRE PROBLEM
OUT OF SERVICE
Jane Stephens wonders why our leaders refuse to reconsider mandating one simple protection against the growing pandemic fall-out.
After dealing with the government and big business, Ashley Robinson is left wondering what happened to customer service.
O
ur resistance to mask wearing has me stumped. Our legislators’ and leaders’ resistance to telling us we must wear them has me even more perplexed. Masks don’t hurt or cost much. They are a simple way to help slow the spread of a horrible, insidious disease that is causing new kinds of trouble. Simply, they protect those around us from catching the virus from us. And even if we don’t love them, why so much resistance? COVID-19 is on the march. A new variant has wormed its way in and the 50,000 people on the Sunshine Coast who have already had it are at risk again. People are getting sick – in greater numbers than even at the so-called height of the pandemic. People are still dying. So why are we not trying to protect ourselves and those we love? Why are our chief health officer (CHO) and political leaders stopping short of mandating masks again and instead talking loads about personal responsibility? Our CHO said last week: “The future is not about public health measures and
public health mandates.” But surely it is. We have been told that we are all going to be infected with or directly affected by COVID in the coming days and weeks. But no one seems to be listening. I am one of few faces masked up on my bus to work, at the supermarket and my favourite cafe. One group that does mask up is the health sector: those workers know how nasty this virus can be and how stretched the hospitals and systems are. They know we need to try to slow the rate of infection. Things are dire out there. When public transport services are limited because so many drivers are sick, when surgeries are put off because there are insufficient staff to care for a patient, when sports events are cancelled and when airports grind to a halt because so many staff are ill, we have to do something different. In The Dark Knight Rises, Batman advises a police officer who works alone to wear a mask. The policeman says he is not afraid to show his face. Batman replies: “The mask is not for you. It’s to protect the people you care about.” Surely, this is one of the most underused lines of the pandemic.
Jane Stephens is a USC journalism lecturer, media commentator and writer.
W
hat have that pompous head of that once-famous airline, our major banks, the government of the time and a major communications company got in common? Maybe I should change that question to what should they all be charged with by the Australian people? Negligence springs to mind, maybe subterfuge, deceit used in order to achieve one’s goal? I am talking about service, or lack of it. It has happened to me, old mate and a couple of work colleagues over the last few weeks when you ring any of the above for assistance, get put on hold, tell your story to someone who is clearly struggling, who puts you through to next poor soul who is also struggling. Eventually you get put through to someone who disconnects, accidentally of course. I rang the government trying to sort myGov, which should be changed to My Pain in the Arse, and in the same week tried to challenge a fraudulent transaction on my credit card and got the same result on both – a big fat donut. A few hours of my life that I am never getting back.
The bank issue is ongoing – two people couldn’t help me, so I went online like they told me and emailed the little box that popped up and told my tale of woe, only to be chatted back to by the robo helper to tell me to take it down as it’s my personal details. What the…? The final straw was when old mate tried to replace our home phone via the carrier who again after two days told her to go to a retailer, so I got sent, of course. I was greeted at the door with the news of how long I needed to wait to see a human. He also told me if I didn’t want to wait, and basically home phones were nearly extinct, I could try an electronics retailer. I tried that, thought I had found the right thing but was told I had to buy two phones not one to make it all work with the modem. I suggested that to headquarters and got yelled at. I won’t go into any further detail apart about this. It is not the staff’s fault – its owners and shareholders and razor gangs, they are the problem. Take me back to the days when you could actually talk to someone and get help. But apparently we are better off, which to me is deception in plain sight.
Ashley Robinson is the manager of Alex Surf Club and the chairman of the Sunshine Coast Falcons.
The opinions expressed are those of the authors. These are not the views of My Weekly Preview publishers.
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