Life is a Masquerade

Reading James on masks brought me full circle back to our current corona-query: Masks. In these vastly viral times, they are de rigueur. Or so they ought to be. Masks: To wear or not to wear? There are those who differ with me; some, aggressively and vociferously so. But, as I texted to a British friend the other day:

“I’m not keen to argue the pros and cons of mask-wearing (in public/social media). It doesn’t really matter if you believe that the coronavirus is real or that it’s a strategy/hoax designed by the Chinese, the White House, Google, Amazon, the Dems, North Korea, the indigo children, the illuminati or twinkle toes to bring down the global economy; I know it’s uncomfortable to breathe through a mask, harder to recognize others and mentally distressing to feel more alienated by a facial divider. Ok. But really, you’re still digging in your heels? You’re talking about your freedom to choose? If we learn one day in the future that wearing masks could indeed have saved a few more lives – including that of a middle-aged Aussie I’ve seen regularly walking his dogs on the beach, who now lies in the ICU of a Balinese hospital with, yup, the virus – would it make a difference to you, in retrospect?”

Maybe, one day, those who turn a blind eye will consider a few things:

1. The term asymptomatic means that either you or I, or both of us, could actually be infected with the virus, at this very moment, without knowing so;

2. If you spew off statistics, indicating the low percentage rate of deaths from cases worldwide, could you stop to think that each one of these “cases” is an actual human being that could, in a sudden twist of fate, be your loved one or yourself?

3. What if we are being forced, through the COVID scourge, to not only be courageous, but to learn to care more genuinely, more deeply for others rather than just ourselves?