She lives one street over from me. Years ago, we walked our dogs together for a brief time, until I realized how self-consumed  she is. There were also some racist comments from her that I found offensive. I have spent the past three years avoiding her, making sharp turns to go the opposite direction with my dog, ignoring her cackling laughter behind me. Many things have changed with this pandemic, and so did this situation. This woman is basically the only person in the neighborhood who consistently walks around without a mask. She doesn’t have one in her hand, around her neck, she has never pulled one from her pocket, and she makes no effort to keep distance from other people. A month ago, she suddenly came up behind me on the sidewalk. I heard footsteps behind me, turned, and there she was, three feet from me, maskless. I leapt out into the street with my dog, said, “WTF! Wear a mask!” To which she replied, “I don’t have to.” And yes, full disclosure, I did say F You.

I have taken even more measures to avoid her, drastically changing the route I take when I walk my dog, but unfortunately our paths still cross sometimes. On those occasions, she yells “Bitch” at me. This morning she was approaching me from the other side of the intersection without my knowledge until I heard, “Where’s your mask bitch?” (I had mine on. She as usual was not wearing one.)

This pandemic has stripped us all bare, revealed everyone for who they truly are. Many people show themselves to be caring, compassionate people. Those of us who wear masks in public, who pull  them up over our noses when we see someone approaching, are announcing that we care about others, that we hurt over the deaths and the prolonged illnesses that grip this country and this world. I’ve lost a friend to Covid and I know others who have been hospitalized. I shouldn’t have said anything to this woman today, but I did wheel around and ask, “Is this virus funny to you?” To which she replied, “You’re funny, with your little mask.”

She, and others, have forever imprinted themselves as cold, uncaring, cruel people. Someday Covid will go away. We will return to some version of normalcy. But the people who made light of the pandemic, who showed what they’re really about, who pranced around neighborhoods heckling those of us who wear masks will never live down what they revealed about themselves. Cruelty is a virus too. And I don’t think there is a cure for it.