Blog 4

My mask arrived in the mail last week.  A handmade one from my daughter.  I don’t know why I’d been putting off buying or wearing one.  Probably ego.  I didn’t want to look weak or fearful.  It sat on the desk in my office for a couple of days before I actually put it on and went out. 

It was a different world behind the mask.  It was weird.  I was breathing like Darth Vader.  And more than a little bit self-conscious.  Was everyone looking at me?  Judging me — uh oh, what’s he got?  The truth is, nobody could have cared.  Everyone was dealing with their own fears.

I had been self-isolating and social distancing whenever I was out, respecting people’s space but not really understanding, “Why the mask?” 

Then, the other day, I heard New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo say, “You don’t wear a mask for YOU — you wear it out of respect for ME — so you don’t get me sick and spread the virus.”  You could be asymptomatic — cabable of spreading the virus — even if you’re not feeling its affects.

I had it all wrong.  And that’s when I realized that wearing a mask was a little like being a superhero.  Doing it for others.  That’s the superhero way. 

So, don’t be selfish.  Wear a mask.  Spread the love — not the virus.

And wash your hands!