who masks are for

Hello, I took this masked mirror selfie in a library elevator.  How are you doing?  I’ve been thinking about who masks are for.

Who do you think masks are for?  Do you wear them?  Do you think covid is over?  A lot of people seem to think it’s over.  My understanding is that it’s not.

Do you think disabled, elderly, unvaccinated people, babies and little kids, and immuno-compromised people matter?  Prisoners?  People in group homes and psych facilities?  How about people who work at in person jobs and are exposed to germs all day?   How about poor people who don’t have paid time off to get sick and recover?  They could lose their job and housing because you briefly coughed on them, wearing no mask, with no idea yet that you were sick.

I think all those people matter.  Absolutely.

My thought about who masks are for is: masks mostly protect other people.  I wear my mask to be a responsible lover of humanity and protect others, especially the most vulnerable.  Let me tell you my mentality.

science

We all emit little wet particles when we do these activities.

• breathe
• talk
• sing
• yell
• cough
• sneeze

I wear a mask to protect other people.  My mask keeps more of my personal particles from becoming airborne and potentially harming others, should the particles contain virus before I ever know I’m sick.

Covid spreads mostly by airborne particles, I’ve heard.  People might not know they’re sick, and might not even have symptoms, but are spewing particles that contain virus.

Bonusly, a mask could protect my mouth from a particle from someone else’s respiration, cough, sneeze, singing, or talking.  I think the most vulnerable places are mouth, nose, eyes.  If a particle goes in there–risky!

So according to my logic and some infographic I saw long ago about how masks works, masks are good for all of us.  But they are mostly for the other person.

respect

Please respect others and love your fellow humans by caring for one another in the ways that make sense for you.

I see society collapse in so many ways, including pandemic.  Drinking fountains are never fixed.  Bathrooms are out of order forever.  Sad housing scams on craigslist are so common I can spot them easily now.

Food and petrol prices seem stuck high, and climate gets more chaotic.  Public school teachers, hospital nurses, and other workers there to help the world are exploited as hard as possible, pushed to their limits.

Feels like the Dec 24 shopping mall people who are desperate to find a gift that will repair the damage they did to their family the rest of the year.  The one percent can see the end is near and are turning up the pressure because they can.  They turn it up to 11 to hoard more resources before the very big turd hits the fan.

love

“What year is this?” the time traveler asks.

“It’s 2022,” the 2022 person says.

“Has the disaster happened yet?” the time traveler demands.

“Who knows!” we answer.  Which one?  I hope so!

I want to believe in love.  That’s who masks are for–mostly strangers, deserving of love as we all are.  But I’m feeling too broke, traumatized, orphaned, and housing insecure to risk believing.