The other day, while shopping for groceries, I noticed the not so subtle return of the mask. Whereas a month ago, the overwhelming majority of people had returned to full face normalcy, now the opposite is true. Could it be the fear of the omicron variant of COVID 19? It certainly seems likely since we have been treated nonstop to moronic news stories about its coming, its coming, its coming and now, thank God, it is here.
It has now been a couple of years of masking. What have we learned:
First, masking as a COVID preventive doesn’t work. And even if by some miracle it did work, people don’t mask cats and dogs – and can’t mask racoons and possums and feral pigs and birds and, particularly, mice. All of God’s creatures inhale and exhale regardless of their vaccination status.
Second, masking does create problems in and around the face. My optometrist reported a very large increase in eye styes, about 5 to one. Dermatologists are almost giddy because of rashes and infections under the masks. To be honest, when someone exhales, they not only breath out CO2, but microscopic particles, moisture, bacteria, fungi, and viruses. (A couple of enterprising parents submitted a used mask for germ analysis. The mask revealed a Petri dish of not so nice living organisms.)
Third, masking has an adverse impact on breathing. It has been shown that the impact on athletic performance is measurably negative. In a few instances, young teenage athletes engaged in strenuous exercise have collapsed and even died. (There is a compelling video of a young female athlete collapsing at the finish line of a race. She had been required by competitive rules to wear a mask during her long-distance run. Both this young lady and her coach blamed the masking for her collapse.)
Fourth, disposed and broken masks are everywhere. They are in the streets, on the lawns, under the cars, and wherever litter can be found. People don’t pick them up to throw them away because nobody knows whether the masks contain COVID or other disease contaminants. I have heard, although not personally seen, that they are ending up on beaches and in the water near the shorelines. Disposed or lost masks have become unsightly garbage.
Fifth, masks are seldom ever worn correctly or consistently. Because they fog up glasses, many adults wear masks under their noses. Little children constantly adjust them with dirty fingers and are otherwise physically and psychologically bothered by the wearing. And then there is the inconsistency. Some restaurants require that you wear a mask to enter, and then the customer takes it off to eat. Try going store to store, masking requirements vary from none to “wear or die”.
Lastly, masks vary in type and quality. The common low cost disposable mask is everywhere. The washable masks look better but so what? And how about the high tech masks with silver embedded in them? From what I have read, the only perfect solution is a full body suit with a self-contained breathing apparatus. Of course, before you put this suit of clothing on you have to be decontaminated.
I think there is a Shakespearean quote that applies:
To mask, or not to mask, that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler to suffer
The slings and arrows of covid outrages,
Or to strike away the masks of doom
That falsely promises to oppose them.