Letters: Crimmins’ flawed COVID column

Caring adults can weather COVID hardship

Other than his faulty math and misunderstanding of pandemics, I take issue with the real purpose of Jonathan Crimmins’ opinion (Prose & Cons, “Leave the Scaring to Halloween,” The Times Record, Oct. 30), which is all in the last line: “Mainers can make decisions for themselves.”

While this is often true, most adults understand that healthy, civil societies require rules and standards that allow us to live together in harmony and we are willing to adhere to common sense rules. On the other hand, most children need time to develop the maturity to exercise good judgement and common sense and need stricter rules than adults. When children don’t like the rules, tantrums often result.

And that is the essence of his column. He doesn’t want to wear a mask and wants to do whatever he wants. Well, guess what? No one likes wearing a mask. No one likes the distancing, the isolation. But most of us are not panicked; we are behaving like responsible, caring adults who have the patience to endure hardship. Mainers do that exceedingly well. We understand that “everyone making their own decisions” is not a workable theory for civilization. Take a deep dive into what that would be like!

Sally Loving,
Brunswick

Crimmins’ column on COVID untruthful

I am a retired physician having practiced in Bath since 1978, retiring in 2011. I am an internist and endocrinologist. I am deeply concerned that you published the column “Leave the scaring to Halloween,” by Jonathan Crimmins. This column as I interpreted it, is by a layperson expressing his opinion on a medical matter. It was published as an expression of a truth that should be accepted by many people in the author’s opinion. In my mind is was similar to the types of articles submitted to other social media which are being evaluated for “truth” and not allowed if untruthful.

This column from a scientific and medical point of view is untruthful. It is a lie. Lies of this sort are very dangerous. Many people will accept this man’s opinion as truth and behave irresponsibly as a result. The pandemic will be prolonged and more of us will die.

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