In the photo above, a San Francisco policeman speaks to an unmasked woman during the 1918 - 1919 flu pandemic. There was an "Anti-Mask League" in those days, too, as this interesting article in the New York Times observes.
"Karens" and "Kyles" have always been a part of our societal fabric: entitled, selfish, angry, and reckless. We're seeing them every day in public places, angrily claiming their right to endanger others. Crises bring out the best, but also the worst in us.
(photo: Hamilton Henry Dobbin via California State Library)
