In order to understand something, one has to turn away from it on occasion. This much I found was true during my visit to the US. I watched the Golden State Warriors game live in San Francisco and it was a packed indoor arena. This was the first time I’ve been outside of the Philippines in two years, and definitely my first time in a massive public event since the pandemic shut down most of everything around the world in 2020. Looking around, I saw a stadium full of masked faces. I am told California is one of the strictest among the US states when it comes to COVID safety protocols. They are …