Unpopular Opinion: I Like Masks

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I do understand the issues that people with severe breathing problems or hearing impairments have with masks. I wouldn't expect you to like them if they actually made your life difficult. If you have breathing issues and you still have to work with the public, I hope you talked to your doctor and employer about how to keep yourself safe. As for hearing difficulties, I get it. The masks muffle voices and make lip reading impossible. They make communication harder for me too (hooray for auditory processing disorder), but that would be tolerable if other people were willing to try other methods of communication and not get annoyed with us. Despite masks making communication more work, I happily wear them. As people around me moan and groan about how they hope they can "ditch these things soon" I just awkwardly smile behind my homemade, patterned, cotton mask with a changeable filter. I am never sure what to say in this exchange. I don't just appreciate them because of the protection they give during this pandemic, and I am not simply making the best of it while it is required of me. I genuinely like them, and even after the coronavirus has been resolved, whatever that will look like in the United States, I plan to keep wearing them any time I am sick.

I did not use up all my fabric making these masks, only to throw them away after a year (or two...or however many it will take before the US gets it together). I was one of the mask makers up at all hours when medical workers were facing the shortage. I am a sewing enthusiast and had just completed a quilting class with my mom before the shut down. We had been buying and storing fabric ever since I was a child. We used some of it for spontaneous projects, but most of it was put away with the hope we would learn to quilt someday. That took a back seat to a greater need. When my school shut down they weren't sure what to do with us aides*, so I did not have work. My spouse is quite high risk, so we were isolated. I had nothing but time, materials, and stress. I poured all of it into making masks for ourselves, friends, family, friends of friends, friends of family, and most of all, health care workers. I lost count of how many I made, and I didn't charge for them. I will admit this was not a cheery affair. I was sad to see my stash depleted, to lose the future quilts I had planned, but I would still do it again. There were more important things at stake.

Besides, I did benefit from the craftalypse. We are not hurting for masks in my house. We have many of all kinds of colors and patterns. They're even cute, or pretty. When I went back to work in person, before the vaccine I might add, I was able to match masks with teacherly outfits. It's easy to make it through a busy week without wearing the same one twice (which you are not supposed to do). Treating the masks like a new accessory takes a lot of sting away from them. I like to lay out my outfits for the week on Sundays, and I put more care in choosing the masks than I do in socks. Are they going to match in or be a slash of color? How will it look next to this scarf? You won't catch me wearing an itchy disposable at work.

Not only are they fashionable, but they are practical and help make my day more pleasant. My school had an issue with sewage leaking into its foundation last year. It was supposedly fixed over the summer. The school was built in the 60s, and little about it has changed since. Many of its issues have just been quietly painted over, like mold on a wall (they say they removed it, but we all still have allergic reactions when we enter the room). It's hard to take "resolved" at face value here, because we know we have been lied to, we just can't prove it. They should just fix the problem, but this is a public school, in an area that does not really value education. Is our sewage issue fixed? Or is it just patched over in the hopes that we will escape the inevitable. I don't know, but what I do know is that every morning with the rising fog the soil we walk on emits a foul odor, found only in distant circles of hell. If anything, my mask makes breathing in the morning easier. And when I remember to scent my filters the night before, it becomes downright pleasant. Foul stench of my administration's avoidance? Can't touch me. Cafeteria made fish? Try again next time. Student not showered? I'm worried about you kiddo, but it's okay. I can still sit next to you and help you work. Bad day? Good luck bringing me down when I smell pumpkin spice all day.

Now, the beyond school reasons! Here's the one we all like: avoiding people. See that person you don't really like in the grocery store? Just don't make eye contact! They might not recognize you. Or they may pretend not to recognize you in the hopes that you won't recognize them. Mutually assured avoidance can be beautiful. Even without running into someone I want to hide from, masks have been a blessing to me every time I have gone out in public.

I haven't been told to smile since I started wearing them. I've always found it annoying to be told to smile when I am just trying to go about my day. It's obnoxious, sexist and patronizing. But masks showed me a different world: one where I can mind my own business and just exist without my expression being policed by complete strangers or used as an excuse by creepy men to talk to me. There was no avoiding that second one either. Either I wasn't smiling and they would tell me I should, and use that to bother me, or I WOULD be smiling and they would use that as an invitation. There was no winning, and at best it was a constant irritation. There were many times it was worse than that. Masks are obviously not the solution to creepy men, but I’ll take my moments of peace where I can get them.

Now, with the lower half of my face covered, along with many others, no one bothers to comment on it. I can have a relaxed face without constant criticism. As sad as it is, I really don't have the words to express how liberating that has been. I can't remember a time I've ever been left alone about this. I can actually go grocery shopping without thinking about it. And now when I smile in public, it's genuine. And that feels incredible. I feel it so much more now that it does not have to compete with obligation or fear, and I can tell the people around me do too. I never want to go back to fake grinning to appease a stranger again. They can call me whatever they want, I won't do it. I am not a decoration for the world's mantle, and I do not owe these strangers my energy.

The final reason is the most important: I care about you. I want to do everything in my power to prevent the spread of coronavirus. I don't think I have it, but I can never be sure, so just in case I will take precautions. If I got it I would probably be fine, especially now that I am vaccinated, but I don't know if the cashier who is just trying to pay their bills would be. And masks are best used to protect the people around you. Even though I am vaccinated, the high risk person I pass on my way to the post office does not know that. Why would I not spare them the extra stress? It takes barely a minute to put the mask on, and by now I am very used to wearing it. It costs me nothing, and it could be keeping my neighbors safe. Even when covid is a distant memory, I don't want to give anyone my colds if I can avoid it. No one likes being sick, and that is something I can do to reduce spreading the sniffles to the people around me. I wear masks because I care about people, and I'm sure you do too. So please, take care of yourself and your loved ones: wear your mask. I hope you all stay healthy, and happy.

*I call myself an "educator" in my profile because I am not technically a teacher. I am an aide for special ed students. In some places, my job is called a "Paraeducator," in others we are known as "Ed Techs." I get a lot of flack for not being a "real teacher," but I have my reasons and I love this job.

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