Have You Ever Worn the Mask?

Each time I have left the house since the quarantine began, I have worn a mask. Since the only place I have gone is to the grocery store, and as everything I’ve read has stated that the supermarkets are hot zones for viral transfers, it only makes sense to wear one.

Yet, I didn’t see many other people wearing masks, and even among a couple traveling together, the use was inconsistent, with one of the two having one, but the other person was not wearing one.

I blame the lack of reliable information.

Back in late January, I read articles such as this one about mask hoarding in the NY Times. In the weeks before the quarantines, they were speculating if the lack of masks would cause the spread of the coronavirus to rise… well, they were right.

I read what they weren’t saying in that article: that regardless of the efficacy, the government/legislators were going to downplay the use of masks in the hopes that the mask supply would be available for purchase and use by the medical community. That sounds like a dumb-ass tactic…

Trust issues = Question Authority

Has no one noticed that they’ve been blowing smoke up our ass this entire time? Scientifically it sounded like a bunch of bullshit. Basic medical logic is that if there is an airborne virus, mitigating contact of the air around you with your sinus cavities means that you lessen the risk of getting sick. That’s just basic science.

So am I going to listen to the misguided advice from the so-called “authorities”? Fuck no.

This article literally said that the CDC was claiming that they didn’t think there was a benefit for healthy people to wear masks. But in the same article, it also said that it was suspected that asymptomatic people can spread the virus, so if they look and feel healthy and they aren’t wearing a mask, guess what they are spreading?

The coronavirus.

So my suspicious ass has been wearing my mask out in public because it just makes sense. I don’t care that I get weird looks. It causes people to step further away from me? Yes! By all means, please get away from me and maintain my 6-foot personal bubble, bitches. I find the overall attitude of the general populace to be super frustrating. It’s like they don’t understand how a virus works, how illness works, or how their brains work.

Wear the mask

I read another article that said that even though by now the CDC has to admit that wearing a mask is better than not wearing a mask since no one can get tested to confirm that they don’t have the virus, but they aren’t going to put that out there because people in this country will panic and HOARD MASKS like fucking assholes. The hoarding that has already occurred is preventing the people on the front lines from having the masks and other Personal Protective Equipment they need. Panicky people are assholes.

The New York Times had a useful article on how to make your own face mask, a useful thing to have in this day and age and you are not a healthcare worker in need of an N95 mask to keep you safe. I am adding this craft to my to-do list. They also have a downloadable PDF of the steps.

The slow response of people in positions of authority is what really worries me. People like the surgeon general who back in February was perpetuating the nonsense that facemasks were not needed. Then today he timidly tests the water by asking the CDC to look into it… Really?!

Don’t wait on others to give useful instructions. The Corona-virus situation response in this country is apparently being run by committee. This BBC article I read goes into more details about the use of cloth face masks.

Perhaps the problem is that no one trusts the people to get educated. Granted, we come with the societal handicap that masks are not part of our non-verbal language lexicon. In the Pandemic Age, Asian countries are streets ahead of us when it comes to considering others in our healthy actions.

In recent days, health experts have started suggesting a new approach – that the public should try to wear non-medical, cloth masks – which they could even make themselves – to help flatten the curve without using up medical supplies.

“US Considers Cloth Face Masks For Public”. 2020. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52126183.

Why didn’t they just go with this from the beginning?

Safety First