Here’s my rant about people who feel it’s their moral duty to take action against those who don’t follow the rules.

Recently a local barber who had run his own thriving business for years had his shop closed down because somebody called the health inspector complaining that he was not wearing a mask while cutting hair. This is the same barber who every September gave free notebooks, pens, and school supplies to children who came to him for a haircut. This is the same barber who had a customer appreciation day and gave free haircuts and set up a mini carnival for kids in his parking lot and cooked free hamburgers and hot dogs for anyone who stopped by.

Now I understand if people don’t approve that he wasn’t following the state guidelines, but then the simple thing to do is to get their hair cut someplace else rather than call the Department of Health that now has this man out of business and looking for employment to feed his wife and young son.

To wear a mask or not to wear a mask has become a personal choice that I respect, and if anyone is uncomfortable around people who are not wearing masks, then the prudent thing to do is to remove yourself from the area.

I recently interviewed local restaurant managers who told me a big problem they were encountering was patrons coming up to them and whispering in their ears about this one or that one not wearing a mask when leaving the dining table. I haven’t heard that Gov. Wolf has deputized certain citizens to visit local establishments to turn in those who do not follow the rules. Once again, if anyone is uncomfortable around these people in a restaurant, then go somewhere else to eat.

Watchdogs and whistleblowers often do their deeds anonymously from a distance. A few years back I went fishing with a friend in a boat in a local lake. We were called to shore by a security person who said he had a complaint that we were using illegal bait to catch fish. The truth is we were not. My friend asked, “How would anyone know anyway? We’re the only boat on the water.”

“Some old lady was looking out her window through binoculars,” the security man said. I felt sorry for that woman who has nothing better to do than spy on fishermen’s bait buckets.

According to some studies, saving the world from injustice can have a very personal underlying motivation for those who point the finger. They are trying to bring successful and happy people down to their level of misery. Parents who seek to have a proven and veteran coach fired from his job may not be doing so because it’s the right thing for the kids on the team. They either carry a personal grudge against the coach or they’re not content with their own jobs or their marriages so they get a twisted sense of satisfaction when they get someone fired.

Watchdogs and whistleblowers are everywhere. In a community where people pay association dues, security was called to confront a grandfather and his 7-year-old granddaughter for trespassing on a path alongside a lake. The poor man wasn’t aware that he was doing anything wrong and his granddaughter became frightened that her grandfather was going to jail.

In the school where I had taught, a student received a suspension because he defended himself after he was attacked by another student who was unprovoked. I broke up that fight when I saw one boy come up from behind and sucker punch another who was standing at his locker. Both students were suspended even though I took the side of the parents of the boy who was a victim in this case. The parents of the boy who started the fight called for the other boy to be suspended, too, complaining that he didn’t have to punch back.

A popular New Jersey comedian went on a rant about someone who complained that he had performed his show on a Jewish holiday. The comedian is not Jewish and his reply to the whistleblower in vulgar language in nicer translation was, “Then don’t watch my show!”

This comedian went on to say that he’s seriously worried that our country has become a nation of vigilantes who go around looking to point the finger at those who don’t follow an expected code of behavior.

Someone once wrote, “Acceptance of others, their looks, their behaviors, their beliefs, brings you an inner peace and tranquillity instead of anger and resentment.”

Whoever called the Department of Health and caused a man to lose his livelihood, whoever looked out her window to catch two fishermen trying to enjoy a day on the lake, whoever called security to scare a young girl and her grandfather having a walk together should focus on why they hold such “anger and resentment” rather than take any credit for doing public good.

A verse from the Bible might be sound advice for watchdogs and whistleblowers regardless of their practice of faith.

“Let he who is without sin among you cast the first stone.”

Rich Strack can be reached at katehep11@gmail.com.