Analysis by Matthew B Crawford, senior fellow at the University of Virginia’s Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture.

I live in the Bay Area, in a county where the vaccination rate is in the mid-80s. In late July, I was dropping my younger daughter off for a soccer day camp each morning. It was 10 kids running around an open field. They wore masks for six hours each day, and it was about 85° that week. Telling my fully vaccinated daughter to put that thing on, I felt compromised for participating in the charade. The old Scots Irish belligerence started welling up.

What to do?

Rules are meant to codify some bit of rational truth and make it effective. These days, we find ourselves in situations where to do the genuinely rational thing might require breaking the rules of some institution. But to do so is to invite…

Harumph.

This kind of rhetoric has no place on our tri-campus, nor does it promote the Irish Rover’s mission of “preserving the Catholic identity of Notre Dame.” Instead, it alienates important members of our community and actively ignores the Church’s teachings of respect, compassion and non-discrimination.

Classic censor’s mentality.

Speaking of his cool, calm and collected LA Dodgers teammate Chris Taylor, who had hit 3 home runs, 4 hits in all, and batted in six runs in a must-win playoff game,

“He’s very soft-spoken and doesn’t get easily excited,” said outfielder A.J. Pollock, who thumped two homers and had four R.B.I., giving him and Taylor a combined 10 of the team’s 11. “The only thing that excites him that I’ve seen is, he likes to have a beer. He gets excited about that, a beer with the boys. And then he loves watching surfing.

“Maybe the three home runs today might have spiked his adrenaline, but probably not. Most likely just the beer and watching surfing.”

It’s a gift.