Okay, so, I live effectively in a national forest; let me try to explain this in terms that are all too familiar here, that have never once been protested: fire restrictions.

This has been one of the driest years on record. We’ve had 0.05 inches of rain in the last month, and really in the last two months. We’ve had 3.12 inches all year, of which about 3 inches was a single snowfall in January.

We are under a Red Flag warning; there are signs all over the forest warning that campfires are strictly prohibited. We’re sitting on a bone-dry tinder box. An out-of-control fire would be *devastating*.

We’ve just had one of our highest-capacity weekends, being Memorial Day. People were pissed. Some went against the order. There were forest fires.

It doesn’t matter if you were a Boy Scout. It doesn’t matter if you have water “right there”. It doesn’t matter if you’re the most responsible human being on the planet. Fire is unpredictable. Fire spreads suddenly and without warning.

We have restrictions for a reason: because they keep y’all from burning the damn forest down. And the same thing goes for health restrictions now, in the face of a pandemic: we’re trying to keep y’all from burning the damn neighborhood down.

This is real. The effects of this virus are devastating. We’re at the halfway point of what Trump was calling just a month ago the worst possible scenario, with no signs of slowing down. And I’m speaking from New Mexico, the only state that actually meets the CDC’s reopening reqs

About a decade ago, we had an incident here; brush fires were starting up all seemingly at once, all along the highway. It was the strangest thing. It was another dry year.

Turns out, someone’s trailer chain was dragging on the road. It was causing sparks, which, though small, were lighting the grass along the highway. It was entirely unpredictable, and though avoidable, it’s unlikely anyone would have thought of that.

These things happen: random accidents can absolutely cause devastation. And guess what? You have *no idea* that you’re carrying the virus until at least a few days after you’ve already been spreading it.

By not wearing a mask, you’re dragging your tow chain along the asphalt. You’re accidentally spreading this wildfire. And it’s *entirely goddamn preventable.*

Suck it up and wear the mask.

I have a pacemaker. One of my bosses is immuno-compromised. Both my bosses are over 75. A coworker of mine has had several heart attacks. We are *all* at high risk of death.

Wear the goddamn mask.