When one Texas dad wanted to show his support for requiring masks in school, he resorted to the naked truth ― literally.
The Lone Star State stopped enforcing Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) ban on mask mandates in schools last week, but the subject remains a contentious issue in the state.
During Monday night’s meeting of the Dripping Springs Independent School District, James Akers told board members the bare facts about masks in a speech he started fully clothed.
“I do not like the government, or any other entity, telling me what to do,” Akers said fully clothed, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “But sometimes I’ve got to push the envelope a little bit. And I’ve decided I’m not just going to talk about it, I’m going to walk the walk.”
He then pointed to the clothes he wore to the meeting and mentioned how he resented the workplace attire.
“At work they make me wear this jacket. I hate it,” he said, while removing the offending garment.
He continued: “They make me wear this shirt and tie. I hate it,” while taking those off.
Akers explained to the board that he ran three stop signs and four red lights on the way to the meeting, insisting he has “every right to drive as fast as I want to,” and added he took a handicapped-accessible parking space outside the meeting.
Akers stripped down to a bathing suit before making his real point: Rules exist for a reason.
“It’s simple protocol, people,” he said. “We follow certain rules. We follow certain rules for a very good reason.”
As you might expect, Akers’ speech attracted lots of comments ― positive and negative ― on a Dripping Springs Facebook page, but Akers told local station KXAN he had a good reason for the dressing-down.
“There are too many voices out there that I think are digging in for political reasons, and absolutely just not thinking about the common sense decisions we make every day to comply with everything from driving down the road and being safe and courteous to other drivers to not parking in handicapped spots,” he said. “All these rules that we’re given every day that we follow, because they make sense.”
Although no action on masks was taken at the meeting, the Star-Telegram said some Texas school districts are trying to implement mask mandates in the face of rising COVID-19 cases.
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