The Andy Griffith Show went off the air in 1968, but the affable and laid-back sheriff of Mayberry has been making a comeback among local leaders who’ve been citing Andy as a symbol of a better way of enforcing pandemic rules – as opposed to the threatening way the county and cities have been going about it lately.
Against the loud objections from some Republican Guilford County commissioners last month, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners passed new ordinances that gave real teeth to Gov. Roy Cooper’s Executive Orders pertaining to the pandemic.
In the weeks since then, the “Andy Griffith” manner of rule enforcement has found a growing number of advocates. Oak Ridge Town Councilmember George McClellan has been advocating on Facebook and in speeches for the Andy Griffith method ever since the county passed the rules that could mean fines, business closures and even imprisonment for those violating COVID-19 mask mandates, occupancy limits and numerous other rules.
McClellan said that, rather than threaten people with penalties, there was a better, more low-key approach the county, cities and towns could take – the method Andy Griffith would have used.
McClellan said that Guilford County’s move was unwise and entirely unnecessary.
“It’s like taking a heavy-handed approach,” he said. “We need more of an Andy Griffith approach.”
McClellan said that turning the virus executive orders into laws causes resentment and makes people naturally want to push back.
“I’m not opposed to wearing the mask, and I do so when I should, but this is taking it a bit too far,” he said of the penalties the commissioners voted into law.
McClellan said Andy would have used “gentle persuasion” instead and done more to encourage following the rules in a friendly manner.
At the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Wednesday, Dec. 9 meeting when the board voted the penalties into law, Andy Griffith was a key topic. Former Commissioner Alan Branson said the Mayberry model would make a lot more sense; and Commissioner Alan Perdue, who is clearly a giant fan of the show, went on a detailed dive into the wildly popular 1960’s sitcom. He used the show to illustrate why it was a mistake for Guilford County to take such a Draconian approach.
Perdue even cited the exact date of one episode when he was arguing against the wisdom of the county using hastily trained staff to enforce the new laws. Perdue likened it to the episode when Gomer starts running around screaming “Citizens arrest! Citizen’s Arrest!”
Everything I needed to know about life, I learned from the Andy Griffith show!
It’s entirely unsurprising you still see the world through the lens of a fictional TV show completely in black and white.
Even the town drunk had to sit it out in the tank now and then but admittedly the measure was more friendly than draconian.
Council arrest! Council arrest!
If only we had that kind of law enforcement officers today.
Now they look like – and are – more like Nazis.
Since we now live in Skip Austin’s county, who thinks he’s King Skipper, we can expect much more of his shenanigans because of his extremely racist, one-way-view loudmouth, egotistical, thinking and speaking. Now that we have Biden as our president, many of us are up the creek without a paddle.
When you go into a store and see staff or customers wandering around without a mask, or observe the mask/bandana parked around their chin or neck do you smile and say tsk tsk? Or do you promptly exit the store and pray that those uncaring righteous deniers haven’t infected you or the infirmed Senior accompanying you? Even with the prominent entry signs and offers of masks, some people still DON’T get it. Folks, this is not a hoax. The pandemic virus is killing people Left and Right (caps intended). Let’s be mindful of our neighbor. Masking and distancing are the staples of prevention. And wash your hands as soon as you get home or sanitize them upon exiting. Without everyone’s cooperation draconian requirements are, unfortunately, necessary.
Well seeing that we have a befuddled self serving mayor like Mayor Pike it sounds logical to me.