This weekend I took a short flight from Lubbock to Dallas to see my parents and do an early Mother's Day celebration since this upcoming weekend will be filled with election shows and news.

It was the first time I've flown since a federal judge in Florida struck down the mask mandate on airplanes, trains and buses. The mask mandate extended into the airports, of course. So while people waited in line for TSA to do their thing, then waited at the gate to board, then got on the plane, then flew to their destination, landed and waited for their luggage, they were supposed to wear a face mask. All in the name of safety and preventing others from getting the novel coronavirus, COVID-19.

On Saturday morning I arrived at Lubbock Preston Smith Airport and went through the newly renovated airport which, by the way, looks great and offers a smooth flow from ticketing to TSA to the gate.

When I arrived at the airport, I looked around and very few people, including airport employees, were wearing masks. I went through TSA with no problems and walked to Gate 8. The flight, even at 6:30 a.m. on a Saturday was practically full, and easily 90 percent of those on the plane were mask-free. Yes, a couple of older travelers wore masks and so did few younger people. But most people, including the flight crew, were mask-free and in a great mood. It was the same way on Sunday flying back from Dallas to Lubbock.

So what was chilling about the whole ordeal? Nothing really, except for when I took time to look back on the last two years and think about how many people cowered in fear on airlines and begged for the government to impose and keep imposing mask mandates for air travel that never made sense.

Too many people just wanted the government to tell them what to do and instead of making their own decisions. Also, masks on planes never made sense.

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Sit shoulder to shoulder on a sold out plane, and that is fine. Take off the masks to eat and drink? No problem. But should the mask on your 5 year old drop below their nose, that's going to be a huge problem. Yes, the most chilling part of flying without a mask mandate is looking back on the past two years and wondering what the hell people were thinking.

Thank goodness flying was back to somewhat normal this weekend. It was good to see things for the most part back to the pre-pandemic way of life. Again, if you want to wear a mask still, go ahead. No one is going to hassle you or even care. You do what you want, and let others do the same.

The longer people fly without masks will make it harder for the Biden administration to attempt to bring the mandates back. People will push back.

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