my mask collection
Japan has a tradition of wearing masks in public. During the flu season, during the winter, during hay fever season, masks can be seen anywhere and used for any reason. I have friends who are singers and they wear masks year round just to keep their throats warm. For a long time I felt that masks were a way for people to make themselves invisible and hide their emotions from others. It really annoyed me to have this wall up between me and someone I was talking to, but my opinion changed during the pandemic. Japanese are basically considerate people and the custom of wearing a mask is not so much to protect oneself, but good manners for protecting others around you. I'm not sure which way I'll go next month...
Last Friday I had to attend a seminar in the next town over with a group of traffic crosswalk guards. We went to the lecture hall in two vans and we were to be met by another crosswalk guard who came in his own car. The problem was, that once at the lecture hall, we couldn't locate the person who had come separately and in the sea of people, everyone was wearing masks and it was really hard to distinguish who was who under all those masks! (We finally did meet up.)
After the lecture, we all walked back to the parking lot and piled into our van.
"Off we go." said the driver (a city hall clerk.)
"Can you drop me off at Such-and-such station?"
This was NOWHERE near where we were headed back in Nikko and one good look at each other and everyone noticed that the man who wanted to be let off somewhere was NOT part of our group! He was supposed to be with the van of people headed south, while our van was headed north to Nikko! Because everyone had been wearing masks no one realized that the man hadn't been part of our original group nor did he realize that he wasn't with the people he was supposed to be with. Everyone had a good laugh!
Sketching in the hospital waiting room
So, there are good reasons to give up on masks and good reasons to keep wearing them. During these winter months, a mask does keep my face warm. That's good. The sweetshop lady who recently is suffering from facial neuralgia said that being hidden behind the mask allows her to continue working the counter of her shop. That's another good reason. And personally I've appreciated masks because it makes it so much easier for me to sketch people wearing masks!!! I don't have to try and draw half the face.
just love your remark about making the faces easier to draw if a mask is worn. Something I will trot out with a tribute to you. Brilliant observation. Irene in N Ireland. still wearing mask though virtually no one else is.
ReplyDeleteI think wearing masks is just a personal option. In the US, we still have to wear them at some health care places but, oddly, not at all, eg. orthopedic offices. There is so much conflicting information about masks. I wear a mask if I hear the numbers are going up, during times when people travel more (like Christmas) and when traveling by air. Otherwise, I generally don't. I think we need to be exposed to some "germs" to build up immunity.
ReplyDeleteI think Tanya said it best in her second paragraph. I wish more people were as considerate as her Japanese compatriots.
DeleteThanks, but I prefer not to "build up" my immunity by being exposed to Covid germs. I probably wouldn't live to tell about it.
DeleteAgreed. Most people think that continuous exposure to pathogens is somehow strengthening. But in fact our ability to benefit from that exposure is at its height when we are in childhood and as we age it diminishes until it all but disappears. That is why covid killed off the elderly so quickly and then started working its way downward so that now the most vulnerable ppl are in their 30s. They still belive that they benefit from exposure so they take fewer precautions. Its foolish path.
DeleteThis doesn’t make sense. My point was that if more people wore masks to protect not only themselves but also their fellow human beings, then that is the best way to go and more people should do it. The fact that you want to build up your immunity by deliberately exposing yourself to the COVID virus, and thus expose others to it if you do carry it, is utter nonsense and not in the spirit of good citizenship. Enough said. I have no desire to clutter up Tanya’s wonderful, peaceful blog (an oasis in my opinion) by commenting any further on your silly opinion on this matter.
DeleteAh! Now it makes sense. What is it with google where comments are defaulting to anonymous? I need to check out my settings. The reason why the second anonymous didn’t make sense is because it wasn’t the original commenter responding to my reply to her. My apologies to the second anonymous that was actually agreeing with me. Wear masks folks! Now to check out those settings.
DeleteI'm still wearing a mask because I have a compromised immune systwm and i it is better to be safe than sorry.
ReplyDeleteLove your drawings and those decorated disposable masks!
Hugs!
With a twitchy heart that doesn't like me coughing hard, and after several bad bouts of bronchitis and one of pleurisy that came from catching "a cold," I started wearing masks every year from November to April, or whenever on a plane. I actually carried a note with me from my doctor explaining that I was not sick, just wearing a mask for protection, because there was a time (during Ebola) when they were kicking people off of planes if they looked sick. Anyway, the masks worked and I stopped getting sick every winter. When Covid hit, I had 4 boxes of masks on hand. People went from looking sideways at me for wearing a mask to begging me for an extra mask! I've worn masks in public non-stop since, year-round, and make my husband wear them too. So far, knock on wood, neither of us has gotten sick. I hardly see anyone wearing masks in public any more. Either they've all had Covid and aren't scared of reinfection, or they've given up caring if they catch it? Whatever the case, one good thing is that I've gone through a lot fewer tubes of lipstick these last 3 years (I don't wear lipstick behind the mask). My doctor says it doesn't matter any more if she has broccoli left in her teeth from lunch. You noticed less drawing. So I guess we all benefit from masks somehow! Maybe in ways we didn't expect.
ReplyDeleteI love keeping up with your life in Nikko, but I admit I was a little concerned this morning when I went to read your post and was met with a warning that stated, “This post contains explicit material. Are you certain you wish to continue?” What?!?!?! So masks, or your opinion about wearing them, are now controversial. Good grief.
ReplyDeleteKeep wearing your mask. You do not want covid. It is now the 3rd leading cause of death in the US. Also: The long term effects of the virus are largely unknown but they are slowly becoming apparent. Deaths from heart attacks are up among 30 to 34 year olds in the US because of covid. I mean, when have you heard of 30 year olds dying of heart attacks?? I have been reading about the early days of HIV. When you get HIV, you feel like you have the flu for a couple of weeks. (Sound familiar these days?) BUT it took years--8 to 10 years-- for HIV to develop into AIDS. And those of us who were around then know how devastating AIDS was before there were medications to treat and help to prevent HIV. I truly believe that something similar is coming with Covid. Years from now we will all be wondering why we weren't warned to continue to take precautions against Covid. Well here is your warning. Continue to wear your masks at the very least.
ReplyDeleteI love Japan's mask culture. It just makes sense and it is so considerate to others. Unfortunately it didn't really catch on in the U.S. even with Covid. I hardly see anyone anymore wearing a mask.
ReplyDeleteI still try to remember to wear a mask, especially on public transport, and I certainly found my hay fever symptoms decreased over the summer when I wore one outside, so I'm not about to get rid of my collection of masks any time soon!
ReplyDelete