Slacking: an American tradition

"You got a real attitude problem, McFly; you're a slacker. You remind me of your father when he went here; he was a slacker, too." -- Mr. Strickland, Back to the Future.

I remember thinking how funny it was to refer to people as "slackers." It seemed like such an outdated term even in 1985. 35 years later, I'm learning that -- 65 years earlier than the movie -- it was quite common.

And for circumstances that are still completely relevant today.
'Mask Slackers' and 'Deadly' Spit: The 1918 Flu Campaigns to Shame People Into Following New Rules

We even repeat the same arguments: Masks aren't comfortable. They look funny. They're an infringement on my rights. None of it's new. Americans hate wearing masks — it's a century-old public health problem

Japan, by comparison, adopted mask-wearing as a sign of modernity and cosmopolitanism. Then, as now, it has saved many people's lives.
Masks helped keep Japan's COVID-19 death toll low, says expert panel