"Masks = handicapped parking spaces"

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The_Old_Maid

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“The liturgy of handicapped parking”:
It’s a small way of making life a little bit easier for people whose lives are otherwise a little bit harder. And it’s a bright blue recurring reminder for all of us, every day, that we’re capable of choosing not to be [Left Behind-holes].

It’s good for all of us, I think, to view them this way — to allow them to serve as a reminder that we are, collectively, capable of such a choice, and that we in fact have already made such a choice. But seeing those designated parking spaces should also be a reminder that it always is a choice — something that we must choose again and again, perpetually, because we are all also capable of choosing the other way.
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Basically an argument that people should think about masks for the same reason we think about the blue parking space. One, that this is such an easy thing to do. Two, if we have any gratitude that we’ve made it this far without harm, would we expose someone else?

There is a point the blogger didn’t mention. Almost no one who needs a handicap space will ever get well. Masks, on the other hand, could be temporary if we exercise self-discipline until a vaccine and/or treatment is found.

Thoughts?

(Note: blogger is a downsized reporter, also liberal, also comments are unmoderated.)
 
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“Liturgy” seems like a strange word choice, but otherwise that seems like a good analogy.
 
I have to admit, I don’t get the whole anti-mask thing, except for the part where they say you have to wear it “in public”–does that mean even outside where there are no people nearby?
 
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Annie said:
in public”–does that mean even outside where there are no people nearby?
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I’ve always assumed it means when there are other people that can be exposed or you expose them. It’s why I think it’s silly when I see someone driving in their car wearing a mask!

I could be wrong, though. I live off a wildlife trail and walk my dog on it. I keep a mask with me if I’m going to pass other people, otherwise, I take it off and I certainly don’t wear it while in my car alone!
 
Annie said:
except for the part where they say you have to wear it “in public”–does that mean even outside where there are no people nearby?
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No, just around people.

I’m sure there’s crazies who profess living with a mask every moment.

But the guidance is intended for when you’re around other people. Grocery stores. Standing in a crowd outside. If you’re on a busy sidewalk.
 
Well, the person in the car could be going a relatively short distance perhaps to pick up an elderly parent, and figures it is easier to put on the mask and drive instead of risking running out of the house WITHOUT the mask and then getting there and not having the mask.

A lot of us in the mid generation (with older parents and younger children /grandchildren) are ourselves in the danger age zones and don’t get out often, so that we aren’t used to picking up a mask and going out with it every single day the way some do.

And as we age especially with something as relatively recent as ‘mask wearing’, we can be a little forgetful too.

So the next time you see something driving by with a mask, it might not be that they’re stupid or paranoid; it might be that they are trying to remember to follow the good practice of wearing a mask ‘in public’ and that this is a way they’ve developed to help them remember to do so.
 
If you see people where you are, put it on. I’ve had my share of feeling stupid wearing mine, but I do anyway.
Dominus vobiscum
 
Sure, I’ll give you that… I think most people that want to make sure they don’t forget their mask won’t necessarily put it on, just make sure they have it…but you could be right. I solved the problem by having several masks. Two for the car, one in my purse and several at home. I realize not everyone has multiple masks…especially at first.

I know I’m forgetful. That’s why I have several all over the place! 😂😂😂
 
That’s an interesting idea, too. I now have several cloth ones, going on the idea of support local people and also use something that can be washed and reused as opposed to disposable ones, but my purse is already way too overstuffed to add a mask, and if I left a mask in the car I’d always be trying to remember, “Ok when was the last time I washed this thing’ and then bring it in to wash and forget to leave ANOTHER one in, etc.”.

Of all the things I have lost in my life, I miss my memory the most. Now I’m like the old fashioned ‘absent minded professor’ having to write notes all the time, LOL.
 
I want a mask with a zipper on it…the pattern of a smile…would knock out two birds with one stone. Nobody can tell your emotions with the masks and you cant eat or drink with them on.
 
I think the disposable ones are a lot easier to breathe in.
If someone has only used cloth ones I can see why they hate wearing them so much.
 
So do I.
And yesterday ,I did some “ surgery” to one of my husbands’ old shirts and made some from the sleeves. Not to mention the surgery on old jeans 😂.
Next come my bandanas.
So as to make sure they are good and match the outfit…if possible😜
 
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Here, we have to wear a mask at all times except eating or exercising.

While it’s common sense that a mask isn’t necessary when you’re alone on a sidewalk or whatever, it’s still a good idea to wear one imo as it reduces the likelihood of you touching your face and either getting yourself infected or passing your germs onto someone else when you touch other objects.
 
Pattylt said:
It’s why I think it’s silly when I see someone driving in their car wearing a mask!
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Just to toss out another rational reason (in addition to stpurl’s)…

The only time I’m within 6 feet of my 90-year-old mother-in-law is when I drive her to appointments. She sits in the back of the minivan and we both wear masks. I’m guessing other drivers can’t see her back there and assume I’m crazy!
 
I keep 2 clean ones in my car, and have gotten pretty good at remembering to bring one along with me-- but just last week I did end up using both the ones in my car!
 
I hate wearing a mask.

For a month into the pandemic, we were not required to wear them at work, but then everything changed.

I wear a homemade cloth mask, and I simply cannot breathe with it pulled over my nose. I have tried literally hundreds of time, probably thousands of times, in the last three months, to wear it pulled over my nose to be politically-correct, but every time, I start gasping after only a few breaths.

So I wear it pulled under my nose–and so do several other people in the lab.

And no matter what homemade concoction I try to prevent my glasses from fogging up, they keep fogging up if I pull that mask over my nose. I wil NOT keep taking my glasses off every five minutes or less to re-apply a “defogging agent”!!! That’s impractical, and since my glasses cost over $700 of my own money (no insurance for glasses), I will NOT take a chance on breaking them!

Also, I will NOT walk around or do my lab work with fogged-up glasses! I’ve already fallen once (several years ago) at work–tripped over a wrinkle in the break room carpet, and broke my knee cap and missed three weeks of work! We don’t have enough staff in our department (microbiology) to lose another person (one of our people resigned last week, so we are now even MORE short-staffed).

Now that it is hot and humid, the mask makes me sweat and my face skin gets irritated and red. That’s real nifty–lots of opportunity for skin infections through that raw skin.

I personally believe that the mask doesn’t protect me or anyone else. I think the best way to protect ourselves is eat right, get your blood sugar and high blood pressure under control, exercise to the extent that you are able, get enough sleep, control your stress levels as much as possible (this is incredibly important) , spend at least a half hour outdoors especially if there is sunshine, and continue practicing any faith-based rituals.
 
Pattylt said:
I’ve always assumed it means when there are other people that can be exposed or you expose them. It’s why I think it’s silly when I see someone driving in their car wearing a mask!
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Yeah, but…my wife makes our masks, from 4 layers of stuff like Kevlar, and it takes a little doing to get it probably affixed to the cranium. So if I am going out, the mask goes on first.

Admittedly, we are odd people.
 
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