A man walks into a bank wearing a mask and gloves…
Once this would have been the introduction to a story about a bank robbery. Now it is simply the new normal for those who enter public buildings. …. Or at least it should be.
When you fight an invisible disease like the coronavirus, we are all in it together. We are, after all, only as healthy as our weakest link.
A woman wears a Niqab in a government services office in Quebec…Until recently, this would have been considered a display of her religious belief; and illegal.Now it seems that she may have, however accidentally, been ahead of her time. She is only protecting the people she meets, not herself. In today’s world, she might even be thanked for protecting her fellow employees from contracting COVID-19 – at least from her.
The government of Canada now recommends that all of us wear face masks when in places where social distancing is not possible. Polls show that while 80% of the population agree with the use of masks, only 30% of these same people will actually wear them.
My partner and I are big believers in wearing masks, especially in enclosed public spaces. When we go out for a walk and people see us with our masks around our neck ready to pull up on our faces when unavoidable close contact occurs. We often get strange looks. Looks that we read as “like really, you think you need to wear a mask here”? They seem to forget, or do not know, that wearing a mask, other than an N95 grade mask, only protects them from us and not us from them.
Covid-19 can be largely asymptomatic, yet very contagious. I think “Bending” the rules of social distancing and public gatherings, especially without masks, opens the window to incubation and the spread of this deadly virus. Don’t you?
I get that we all want to get out and about, and back to “normal”. We also know that it will never be the same. It will be a “new” normal”.
When we eventually open up, everyone that wants to leave home, be it simply for groceries down the street, or for the more adventurous seeking domestic and foreign travel adventures, the “new” normal will be that you WILL be asked to wear masks, ….
So far, the people wearing masks are primarily from the “people serving you” side. People on the other side of the desk serving food, serving passengers, or just greeting travelers will most certainly be wearing masks. They are the frontline workers and they do not know you or where you have been or how old you are or if you wash your hands. To them every one of us is a walking virus carrier. Wouldn’t it be respectful to also wear a mask to protect them? Not so very long ago, you would have been welcomed with a smile, a handshake and even a hug. Now the new “norm” will be temperature checks, Plexiglas partitions, copious bottles of tissues and hand sanitizers.
As travelers in the “new normal” we are now required to wear masks on planes, trains, and most public transport. Cruise ship passengers will probably see some of the most stringent rule changes with respect to masks. Things are about to change. If you are boarding a 400-passenger jet, passengers required to use social distancing will create a line approximately one kilometre long prior to entry. While some airlines in the states still hesitate to request that passengers keep their masks on during the flight, I think they deserve protection from me, and hopefully a lot of them will feel the same toward me. Just as the terrorism rules were at first challenged, it is now a given, that rules in place to protect the greater good can override the rights of an individual. I agree that the mutual rights of a community to health and safety override my individual rights. Don’t you?
At the liquor store the other day, I was required to answer some questions on my health and my travel habits. The nice young man who asked me the questions was not wearing a mask. And while I, who has been wearing a mask and observing distancing protocols, had to prove I was” customer worthy”, the man who was coming in contact with several customers an hour while not wearing a mask was not protecting me. Should not I have deserved the same respect from him? At the same store on that day, an older man was at the cash register wearing his mask. A woman standing the proper 6 feet back was not wearing a mask. I was behind her and the recommended 6 feet back and wearing my mask. She was probably the person least likely at risk, and yet, apparently, she did not feel a need to wear a mask. I wondered if she would have felt differently if she pictured the man in front of her or the man behind her as her dad or granddad? Would she wear a mask if she thought she might infect a relative? Would it be asking too much to have her carry a mask in her handbag that she could use, if only for times like this? My thoughts are that both the guard at the door and the customer should have been wearing masks. Wouldn’t that make sense?
At the post office the other day a customer who was wearing a mask said something I thought was quite funny to the postmistress. From behind my mask when I got to the counter, I commented to her that she must be losing out on normal customer interactions because she could not tell if her customer was smiling. She said “I can see their smiles. You can see it in their eyes”. I realized then and there that the new normal for seeing people will be through the expression in their eyes. It could be a whole new fashion industry around eye make-up and glasses.
Regardless of where the virus hits us, the eventual real change will be that more of us will carry, and frequently wear, masks. It will not just be the server in the restaurant protecting you, it will be you protecting them. It will not just be the person greeting you on your travel destination protecting you, it will be you protecting them.
Because of that, the making and selling of fashion statement masks is going to be big business. Masks are the next wave in fashion accessories. No longer will it be a great tie or a beautiful bandanna that catches our attention. It will be the mask with a flag or a pet or a pretty design. Every store, from the big box mall store to the corner grocery store will be carrying an array of masks. There will be masks with outrageous designs that offer fashion but not protection. There will be masks with outrageous boasts about their effectiveness, that might only appeal to nerds. There will be throwaway one-use masks for when you have forgotten yours at home.
My intention with this blog is to say I care. I care about you enough to wear my mask when social distancing isn’t possible. If you don’t wear a mask in tight spaces, you could put me at a risk. It’s a risk I am not always happy to accept. Would you be?
When a vaccine is finally available, and we can consider this phase of the pandemic mostly over, will we all be able to say we did our share to protect, not only ourselves, but also our relatives and our neighbors and to some extent our country? Did we do anyone harm by being the weak link? I am trying my best to be able to say, I did my part. Are you?
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