You know I wrote not that long ago something that speaks of the false masks we wear when we go out and interact with the world. Today, however, I want to talk about the masks we have to wear and how different our world has become. I was hand washing mine and my husband’s face mask and hanging them to dry on the towel rack in my bathroom when I was once again struck by how different the world has changed in one short year.
This image incited feelings in me that I didn’t know I had about the pandemic and about my family, so many things came to the surface when I gazed upon these dripping masks. It made me think about all the times that we used facial cues from others to learn basic skills like knowing when someone was mad, or sad, or happy, angry even. Things we took for granted that are now lost on the babies coming into a world where they have to cover their face to protect them from this unseen killer we call Covid-19!
Don’t get me wrong, I am all for wearing the masks to protect myself, my co-workers, my family. Yet, it also makes me wonder will we ever get back to normal. Or is this it, our new normal. A world where we have spent a lifetime trying to unmask those around us only to now be told we have to wear them to live. Yes, the former is a metaphorical mask but it seems like this virus has caused things to be so much easier to hide who we really are. There is something to be said for seeing the smile on your child’s face when they see something that excites them for the first time out in the world.
Add to this, the fact that in just a few short months these masks we wear have become an industry unto itself! I have never seen a product go up and out to the public, in so many ways of buying it, faster. This just makes me ill, knowing somewhere out there some fat cat is getting fatter off of such a small piece of material. Again, don’t get me wrong I am not mad at the fact that they are everywhere now. However, and this is just my opinion. Shouldn’t they be free? I mean these masks have become the first line of defense against an unknown entity here. It is something everyone needs to protect themselves. It angers me to no end that some companies are charging an arm and a leg for them. Again I ask, “why?” This is not something that is affecting just a certain part of the world. It is affecting the entire world. All of us. Why then are people profiting off of these masks? Don’t even get me started on those that don’t even have the money to even buy a mask. Are they just screwed?
Going back to the masks hanging from the towel rack to dry. I never thought I would live in a world where this was my new normal. I mean this could be a billion dollar industry if it isn’t already. Just think of how many contraptions could be sold to help wash these masks. Or even special racks to hang them to dry. The list goes on and on. It makes me sick. To think that in these uncertain times where people all over the world are fighting for their lives. That somewhere, someone is counting on another mask being sold to line their pockets.
I hope one day very soon this blip in our history is over but what will we take away from it? Have we learned anything yet? We have gone from the masks we wear in order to be liked, or loved, to the masks we have to wear to survive. I just hope that once the masks are finally able to be removed for good we no longer have to wear one to fit in to a world that has all gone through this pandemic together. This is the message that needs to be repeated over, and over until we all understand that we are not in this alone. We are all scared, we are all afraid to step out of our homes some days. We are all in this together! Just remember the light always follows the darkness. It can’t last forever. We as humanity can’t let this virus beat us. We are made of stronger stuff than that, but you don’t have to believe me just look back at our history that some would rather wipe out than remember how far we have come and how much we have already conquered! This time in our lives is just another chapter in humanities history. We will come through it masks or not.
Sacrificial Chain Breaker 