Wearing a Mask Is a Pain. Please Do It Anyway.
Comfort is key…until it’s not.
I cannot pretend that wearing a mask is comfortable. It’s not. It doesn’t slip on like a second skin and you’ll never reach the point where you “forget you’re even wearing it.” It’s hot and awkward and I can already spot the dreaded “maskne” forming on my nose and chin. And while the eye-catching colors and patterns inject a little fun and fashion into the exercise, it still feels bizarre to wear something you were more accustomed to seeing on medical dramas growing up. It’s an unwelcome inconvenience. And that’s a pain. Truth is truth.
But please understand that we are not making the choice between pain or no pain. We are making the choice between extreme pain and lesser pain. And when I say extreme pain, I don’t just mean physical pain and I don’t just mean our own. It is 3 months to the day since my cousin Nick died of COVID-19 and the gaping hole that was ripped into our family will never be filled. It’s deeply painful. And it will always feel more painful than the nuisance of wearing a mask ever will.
Seeing people outside without their masks makes my stomach flip with anxiety. I am terrified of getting sick or getting my family sick. I know they don’t know my story, or see the gaping hole in my heart. And, to be fair, I don’t know their story either.
- Maybe they have already survived COVID-19 and feel invincible.
- Maybe the cases in their orbit have come and gone without hospitalization or long-term health consequences.
- Maybe they suffer from quarantine fatigue and are starving for any sliver of pre-pandemic normalcy and that means feeling the wind on their entire face.
- Maybe they just don’t like being told what to do.
Whatever their rationale, I hope they have the presence to recognize that it is possible to contract the virus and never develop symptoms. It is possible to spread the virus without ever showing symptoms. It is possible to turn someone’s life upside-down, or cut it short, without intending to, or realizing it. It is possible to rip a hole through the lives of people you have never even met.
- Wearing a mask is an act of respect.
- Wearing a mask is an act of strength.
- Wearing a mask is an act of compassion.
- Wearing a mask is an act of self-care.
- Wearing a mask helps set an example for a child who may not yet understand why everyone is suddenly wearing masks. Unlike my 7-year-old, they have hopefully not been personally impacted by the horrors of this disease.
I cannot say that wearing a mask is easy, but the choice to wear one should be.
Please wear a mask.
