So it is proper etiquette in Asian countries to wear a mask in public during pandemics. That's not the case here; as we've been told here, wearing a mask is useless to everyone who is healthy because 1) it won't help, especially when it comes to COVID-19, and 2) wearing a mask is taking away from someone who really needs to use it, such as health care workers tending to actually sick people. Nevertheless, it is considered rude not to do so in Asian countries. For all I know, things are different there; they have borne the brunt of a few epidemics, and maybe surgical masks do make a difference. There was one webpage I glanced at that said that masks in public are less useful to prevent infection than they are a social cue, a sign to others in your community that they're taking their health, and the health of strangers, seriously ... and you should do the same.
I was told not to use the endless supply of gloves at work. Fine. I read a page where people working in non-infectious settings don't get any extra benefit by wearing gloves. But yesterday during dinner, unprompted, my parents asked if I needed gloves and a mask. I could use gloves, to which that night they gave me, uh, three. I should tell them that I need, like, way more than that, since I have to go through, like, three of them a day.
When I came home this afternoon (an abbreviated workday followed by a Quarter Pounder that nourished my soul at Mickey D's followed by a trip to the cemetery to see my Grandmother and uncle that was not to be because it started to rain and also the mausoleum appears to be closed so I might not have been able to see my uncle's ashes) Mother pointed me to something she's knitting. She's retired, so she knits. A lot. And she knitted this beautiful, multi-colored mask. She asked me to try it on; after she's done, she says she's going to get cloth inserts so I could wear it at work and dispose those inserts.
To be clear, I really, really doubt I'm going to wear this mask at work. Gloves make me feel safer, but a mask does not. Moreover, we're in the Western Hemisphere, so I'm going to get weird-ass looks from the folks in the lab, and that's without mentioning that this crocheted mask is in a multitude of colors. But you know what? I'm going to carry it in my bag anyway. Mother probably doesn't understand what I feel I need at work, but she did this for my anyway. She shows she loves me and cares for me. And I can't be mad at that.
I was told not to use the endless supply of gloves at work. Fine. I read a page where people working in non-infectious settings don't get any extra benefit by wearing gloves. But yesterday during dinner, unprompted, my parents asked if I needed gloves and a mask. I could use gloves, to which that night they gave me, uh, three. I should tell them that I need, like, way more than that, since I have to go through, like, three of them a day.
When I came home this afternoon (an abbreviated workday followed by a Quarter Pounder that nourished my soul at Mickey D's followed by a trip to the cemetery to see my Grandmother and uncle that was not to be because it started to rain and also the mausoleum appears to be closed so I might not have been able to see my uncle's ashes) Mother pointed me to something she's knitting. She's retired, so she knits. A lot. And she knitted this beautiful, multi-colored mask. She asked me to try it on; after she's done, she says she's going to get cloth inserts so I could wear it at work and dispose those inserts.
To be clear, I really, really doubt I'm going to wear this mask at work. Gloves make me feel safer, but a mask does not. Moreover, we're in the Western Hemisphere, so I'm going to get weird-ass looks from the folks in the lab, and that's without mentioning that this crocheted mask is in a multitude of colors. But you know what? I'm going to carry it in my bag anyway. Mother probably doesn't understand what I feel I need at work, but she did this for my anyway. She shows she loves me and cares for me. And I can't be mad at that.
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