I knew it would be an issue from the start. From the initial moment the decision was made back in March of 2020 to shut the whole country down for 14 days in an attempt to slow the spread of Coronavirus, I knew, like many knew, that it would eventually be a problem.

And we can look back now and see.

Fourteen days turned into months, years in some cases. If we think back through all of the Covid protocol we all tolerated, it was a bit much. Like Lysoling the mail for example. That was a bridge too far for me. It was one thing after another. Counting the number of people going in and out of stores. Forced mask mandates. Eventually vaccine mandates for vaccines that do not work like traditional vaccines. The list was long. There was a fair amount of panic and fear.

There was a lot of trial and error.

And I suppose we can all accept that. Nobody had dealt with anything like Covid before in any of our lifetimes. It was new.

But it has gotten old now. The pandemic is over, the emergency has been over, people can get themselves several shots between the vaccine and boosters, plus there are medications, and even natural immunity has finally been slightly recognized.

But still, I knew there would be people in positions to tell others what to do temporarily during “Covid” who would have trouble ever relinquishing that half-ass amount of authority. I don’t understand why, I am not sure what it is called, but some people suffer from it.

I do not know how much people down at the DMV make. It may not be connected with a dollars per hour setup. I just assume there has to be some kind of inadequacy somewhere within a person if they get satisfaction from trying to control another person in any way. But we can all agree these personalities exist among us.

I am not saying that there are not people who maybe look better wearing a mask. But mask mandates were not uniform anyway. Many masks were not made of proper materials, many were ill-fitted making them useless, and others were never worn right for more than a few minutes before they dropped below the nose.

But it is over. Mask mandates in Alabama have been over for months, except here in Wilcox County where the county government seems to be the only one – or among a few governments – still married to mask requirements. They like them. And that is fine, but a handful of people’s paranoia should not rule the entire county.

You can visit Jackson Hospital in downtown Montgomery mask-free, but if you want to go into the Wilcox County Courthouse, or if you are unfortunate enough to have to go in to get your driver’s license renewed, you have to wear a mask.

If you question their mask mandate, you are told if you want to renew your license…then you will wear a mask. In October of 2022 this is happening.

The Attorney General’s office explained that Wilcox County can do this because there is not a law that prevents them from doing it.

There is no reason for Wilcox County to still be requiring masks. The county is forcing it…simply because they can. I take it because they are afraid, or either get a thrill from telling others what to do. Either way, people do still have to take the mask off to get their picture made at the Camden DMV…but you get the point.

Amanda Walker is a columnist and contributor with AL.com, The Birmingham News, Selma Times Journal, Thomasville Times, West Alabama Watchman, and Alabama Gazette. Contact her at [email protected] or at https://www.facebook.com/AmandaWalker.Columnist.