Since March, Gov. Charlie Baker has demonstrated his calm, measured approach to guiding the state’s response to the coronavirus epidemic. He patiently and repeatedly explained during the spring why a near-total shutdown of Massachusetts’ economy was necessary.
Like a tolerant father or teacher, he reminded fellow state residents during the summer for the 10,000th time to wear masks and socially distance even as anti-COVID restriction protesters demonstrated outside his Swampscott home.
On Tuesday, Baker got emotional — and he got mad.
During a Dec. 8 press briefing in which he announced the state needed to step up its COVID-19 precautions, Baker abruptly launched into a story about a personal friend and her husband who opted not to dine indoors with another couple after plans for outdoor dining fell through.
“The other couple was angry and gave them a lot of ‘what for?’ and ‘why were they being so silly,'” Baker said, his voice tinged with emotion – and exasperation.
He said the couple who dismissed his friend’s concern tested positive for COVID-19.
“My friend felt pretty good about the decision she made. The easiest thing to do would have been to say, ‘Yes,'” Baker said.
Even as he has announced business shutdowns and gathering capacity limitations, Baker has acknowledged that personal behavior and individual decisions to follow pandemic protection guidelines — or not to follow them — is what ultimately matters in the fight against COVID-19.
His emotional description of what, in pre-pandemic times, would have been a mundane story about people going out to dinner, mirrored his frustration over climbing COVID-19 case rates and provided a glimpse of the toll the pandemic has taken on him.
Baker believes alterations in that most basic of human behaviors — socialization — is the key to flattening case rates and saving lives. He referenced during his press conference other conversations with acquaintances to underscore his point.
“The concept that their friends are a problem for them is an extremely hard one for them to understand,” he said.
Artful at avoiding arguments and clearly preferring consensus over confrontation, Baker since March has clung to the belief that Massachusetts residents, if sufficiently armed with the facts about COVID-19, will do the right thing.
His frustration-laden story about his friend’s dining decision offered a glimpse into what it is like to be a leader in a time of crisis when policy translates into lives being saved or lives lost.
He wants us all to follow his friend’s example and do the right thing when it comes to COVID-19. All things considered, that isn’t asking too much, is it?
