Are you struggling to try to convince people around you to wear a mask when out in public? The people over at The San Francisco Chronicle thought that might be the case, so they decided to talk to Gary Noesner. Noesner a former Crisis Negotiation Chief for the FBI and is the author of "Stalling for Time."
Noesner told Chronicle writer Dan Gentile:
“As soon as you venture into a tone or demeanor that sounds critical, they will immediately get into a defensive posture. Whether they feel strongly about it or not, they feel compelled to defend their freedom to do what they want. So any approach like that is inevitably going to fail.”
If you see someone not wearing a mask, Noesner offers this advice instead:
“You might say, ‘Excuse me, could I chat with you for a second? I see that you don’t have a mask on, and I know that’s a personal choice, and a choice that you need to make. But I have this vulnerability medically. Or my son does. Or my daughter. If not for yourself, you might make others feel more secure.'"
He goes on to say that instead of putting blame on the maskless, you flip the script and put the blame on yourself.
It's weird that we are even having this conversation, but this is 2020 after all.
Read more about what Gary Noesner has to say in The San Francisco Chronicle.