Confessions of a Willing Masker

There is quite a bit of stuff I know is good for me that I don’t do — like driving the speed limit, brushing three times a day, “strength training,” limiting caffeine, and doing crossword puzzles.  Some stuff that’s good for me I do fairly regularly, and then some I completely don’t even intend to do.  Like it’s not on the list at all.  And that’s my business.

Masking up during the past many months, I’ll be honest, has sometimes floated into the mental category of eating steamed broccoli.  Like, I know it’s good for me and I think I eat it pretty regularly, I try to, but when I actually look, really look at what I’m doing, there’s a decent amount of French fries.  

Now, technically and at some level french fries also may be lethal, but differently lethal than Covid, or especially the new super-Covid that’s here or soon to be here.  Also my eating French fries won’t make you fat, but my not masking up could kill you if I’m an asymptomatic carrier.  So that’s another difference.

If I compare myself to other people in general it seems like I’m way more cautious.  But if I think about how careful I want to be vs. how careful I actually am, there’s a gap I can close.  

I was out walking the other day and I FaceTimed my friend Lizzie and she was like, “Why are you outside without a mask????”

“What do you mean?” I asked.  It was 7am and literally no one was within view, just me and Brownie.

“You’re outside your home and maskless,” she said.

“There’s no one around!” I said.

“It’s aerosolized!” She said. “You don’t know who was there five minutes ago.”  And I knew that but I didn’t really want to know that just like I don’t really want to think that those other unmasked people out and about are playing Russian roulette with my life and theirs.  

“Really?” I said, “I’m used to being the most risk-avoidant person in the zoom room.”

“Well, you don’t hang out with enough virologists,” She said.  She had me there.  I know a lot of physicians and other health care peeps but I think Lizzie is my only virologist friend.  And she basically doesn’t leave the house and when she does she is 100% masked, 100% of the time.

“The only way to end this is 100% mask compliance,” she lectured me.

So I put my mask on so Lizzie would get off my back and we kept chatting while I walked home, came inside, and de-masked.  

My face was sweaty and I was annoyed.  I thought, “My one freaking enjoyable thing just got taken away.  Screw it she’s nuts! That risk is so low I’m over it.”

But the next time I went walking I masked up.  Nose and mouth.  And yeah, my face gets sweaty and it gets stuffy in there but that’s preferable to Covid.  I did have the thought that if I pretended the mask was giving me a mini-facial while I was wearing it then the relative discomfort wouldn’t be so bad.  

Like what if all my smile lines and pucker lines were getting a treatment from the mask? Then I’d be totally fine with the inconvenience. Pore minimizing — heck I’d pay for it!  But to save my health or yours, such a bother. So anyway, that’s what I’m thinking.  No pain, no gain.  I’ve done worse to get way less.  I can do this 100% compliance thing.  I’m gonna keep going.  

P.S. Thank you to Lizzie and to all the Lizzie’s who are willing to speak up, to walk the walk, to keep me alive.

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