The problem is that these so-called experts keep changing their minds. They tell us to wear a mask and then they say, ‘Don’t bother.’ Now they want us to wear a mask again. Maybe they should draw us pictures. It is not that we are slow or just plain dumb.
The damn masks are becoming a fashion statement. Just not surgical masks—those are for the medical professionals.
Why should we have to sew our own? What good can it possibly do? How many masks do we need to take us through the day? Do you just throw them in the washing machine? Or do you have to take them to a dry-cleaning establishment? Which is better, the 100-thread count weave or the 300-thread? What about those ones that seem to be made of a porous paper?
And what do you do when a friend calls and wants to go for a walk—six-feet apart, of course? Do you say, you are washing your mask and it is too wet to wear? And do you have to wear masks when having sex with your neighbour’s wife?
What you need to realize here is that masks are really quite useless—especially on people who do not understand their purpose. When a medical professional wears a face mask, it is to protect the people with whom they are in close contact. It does not protect the wearer. When a professional has to be protected, they wear something closer to full hazmat suits with a shield protecting the face, plus a surgical mask.
Bear in mind that the N95 mask is called that because it can filter out up to 95 per cent of pathogens for a brief period. Nothing is perfect. And all professional medical people can give you is their best guess. We are all going to listen carefully, nod knowingly and do whatever the hell we want to do. I, for one, do not like wearing masks.
But I sincerely appreciate the, probably useless, efforts of those wearing masks to protect me from their germs and viruses. Those silly masks just might become the badge of honor of this pandemic.
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Copyright 2020 © Peter Lowry
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