Tom Hanks Uses Driving As A Spot-On Metaphor For Wearing Masks
Tom Hanks is apparently on a PR tour to encourage the use of face masks and we’re here for it
Tom Hanks has emerged as a sort of pandemic folk hero amid the coronavirus madness. He and wife Rita Wilson were among the very first famous names diagnosed with the novel virus and both have been vocal about their experience recovering from it and why America needs to take it seriously. Hanks recently appeared on the socially distant version of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert where he continued his coronavirus prevention public relations tour, and the metaphor he used to encourage the use of face masks is spot-on.
When Colbert asked Hanks to address those who are against wearing a face mask (amid ever-rising positive case numbers), he had this to say: “Are they Americans? I don’t get it. It’s the least you can do. It’s literally the least you can do. A mask and wash your hands and try to stay six feet away from a person. Is this impossible now?”
Apparently it is, sadly. Some people have made a viral trend out of refusing to wear a mask and then losing their ever-loving shit on people who question them about it. Being a mask-hole seems to be the new American past-time, because of course it is. While other countries band together and agree that quarantining and masking are the best ways to protect the vulnerable, some Americans are too busy shrieking about their free-dumbs. Keeping it classy, as always.
So to paint the picture a little more vividly, Hanks resorted to a metaphor about driving that’s easy for even the biggest covidiot to understand. “Honestly, if you drive a car, do you think it’s your constitutional right not to use your turn signals?” he muses. “You should use your turn signals because otherwise you might run into somebody and somebody might run into you, right? You want to obey some aspect of the speed limit, right? I mean, you don’t want to go 120 miles an hour in a school zone. You slow down, right? You try not to hit buildings and pedestrians. You give that a shot, don’t you?”
He adds: “I think the least you could do in the United States of America and around the world is wear a mask, wash your hands, and keep your distance.”
It is the literal least we can do. All such simple measures to take, and though they may not be foolproof, they seem like common sense ways we can slow the spread of a virus that’s taking thousands of American lives every month. Imagine being such a selfish and ignorant jerk that you’re more concerned about “government control” or whatever looney conspiracy theory is going around than possibly keeping family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers healthy. It’s an absolute shame and Tom Hanks is right to be mad at us.
And this isn’t the first time Hanks has made it clear that anyone not taking these simple precautions is basically the worst. At a press conference earlier this month to promote his movie Greyhound, Hanks didn’t mince words about his views on those who won’t do their part. “Those things are so simple, so easy, if anybody cannot find it in themselves to practice those three very basic things – I just think shame on you,” Hanks said. “Don’t be a p—-, get on with it, do your part. It’s very basic.”
It sure is! And yet, here we are. Hopefully, the combination of the CDC recommending it and America’s nicest guy is enough to convince some of the naysayers that masks, hand-washing, and social distancing is the way to go if we want our country to turn the coronavirus ship around. And if we want Tom Hanks to stop being mad at us.
