Once Again.... If You Don't Like France...

[Mudhammam]

After hearing all sides and being unable to adequately defend my position, I accept the arguments of those supporting the ban. Part of my change of heart occurred at work yesterday. The guy I work with (he's slightly mentally disabled and I basically go to his house to babysit) told me how he scared one of his neighbors at his apartment complex the other night by putting on his Scream costume, including mask, and popping out from behind the front door when she was coming back in from a smoke. I told him this was not a wise thing to do. Then when I was there, he wanted to wear it outside to show off to some neighborhood kids. It made me a bit uncomfortable, putting myself in the shoes of his neighbors or other bystanders, and I found myself almost wishing I could say, "You can't do that! It's illegal!"

I came to the conclusion that for public safety, a ban of all facial coverings is probably the most common sense solution to preventing such a problem as I felt yesterday, considering that there really are a number of people who would conceal themselves to do random people harm rather than just pull off a silly prank. It's a sad commentary on society and so, unlike those celebrating France's law, I begrudgingly accept its logic because I'm still uncomfortable with the complete erosion of privacy which, considering the surveillance and facial recognition technologies police forces now utilize, this law further cements.