Bullies facing a shrinking world

BThe vaccine mandates are to protect us. Those who are at the front line of enforcing them should know they are not alone and we’ve got their backs.

est tweet of day two of the new vaccine passports was by the ‘‘6ft3 shaved headed Viking looking b ..... d’’ offering his services to any cafe owner wanting to scare antivaxxers into compliance.

‘‘Hit me up, ‘‘ he offered. ‘‘They seem to target their rage at high school-aged girls and evaporate when I ask them what’s up.’’

Sadly it’s too true to be funny.

There are stories of sole-charge business owners shutting up shop and going home early because they can no longer handle the anger and abuse.

Young hospitality staff are being left in tears by unvaccinated customers demanding they be given entry in the face of the new vaccine passport rules that came into effect on Friday.

Hopefully more ‘‘6ft3 shaved headed Viking looking b ..... d’’ kind of people will step up to help if they see other staff or business owners being harassed.

The onus is on all of us not to look the other way; the vaccine mandates are to protect us. Those who are at the front line of enforcing them should know they are not alone and we’ve got their backs. There was plenty of warning that this day was coming. Many of the things that we take for granted in our lives will no longer be available to those who choose not to be vaccinated. That’s the new reality. And that’s the choice they’ve made by opting out of the social contract where vaccination is seen by the rest of us as a collective responsibility to protect not just ourselves, but the most vulnerable people in our community.

I wish some of those angry abusive customers could hear the gentle wisdom of Kawhia’s 85-yearold Te Papi Cunningham, speaking to Florence Kerr for today’s Sunday Star-Times.

‘‘I didn’t go and get double-vaxxed for me, my time is coming to an end. I am double-vaxxed so I do not give my grandchildren or greatgrandchildren this bug. I will do everything I can to prevent it from getting to them. Not for my benefit, but for them.’’

There are many reasons why people might not want to be vaccinated. Some are scared into doubting the safety of the vaccine by friends or family peddling misinformation and conspiracy theories. Others seem to have political reasons; they don’t believe in being forced, or in vaccine mandates. Given that no major political party is advocating a reversal of mandates, it’s not clear how they think anything will change.

Sadly there are some businesses that seem to be supporting that view; the number of them putting up signs promising not to discriminate on the basis of vaccine status is puzzling given that 90 per cent of their customers, who are vaccinated, may decide to vote with their feet.

And then there are the rest; the angry, selfrighteous bullies; they bolster each other with messages of support for their courage; they congratulate themselves as martyrs and truthsayers; they see an apocalyptic world where only they understand the truth of what is happening.

Their world has just got a lot smaller; lashing out won’t change that.