To Mask or Not To Mask

Photo from Wikipedia

(Photo from Wikipedia)

This morning was taken by a longish drive and a health care appointment. Not to worry, it was routine.

The woman who took vials of blood tried to wear a surgical mask, but I kept seeing her pull it down off her face whenever she could. When it was my turn in her room, I noticed she had a cough. She said she takes a COVID test every morning and she tested negative. She wasn’t aware that rapid tests here only show positive for an infection 42% of the time.

I kept my FFP3 (like N99) on and stayed across the room as much as I could. Not that it would help much. It’s an unventilated room with no air filter. I don’t bother to call better face coverings respirators to distinguish them from other face masks. Most people think of them all as masks. As long as it works well, I’m not fussy about what my face covering is called.

Somehow I managed to ask whether she would like to try a better mask. She said she would be willing to switch masks if it would make me more comfortable. I only had one individually wrapped spare on me, FFP2 (like N95) with ear loops. I gave it to her. She put it on before we got to the part of the appointment where she had to be right beside me, taking blood samples.

Near the end of her routine, she stopped. Her eyes looked surprised.

She told me the new mask was more comfortable than her surgical mask and she could breathe through it more easily. (This is despite the surgical mask leaving gaps at each side and the FFP2 mask fitting more closely.) The surgical mask was hard to breathe through and uncomfortable. She said that was why she had been pulling her mask down whenever she could. With the FFP2, she felt no need to do so. Even better, she said it had made the tickle in her throat go away. She wasn’t coughing any more.

It was time to get my stuff together to leave. While I did that, she talked more about how poor her immune system is, that masks help her not catch so many viruses, and how it isn’t all about the pandemic. Even ordinary viruses give her a hard time.

After I emerged from the room, on the way to our car my wife said she noticed the woman was wearing a different mask after my appointment. She asked whether I foisted one of my good masks on her.

Yes, I did.

And the woman likes it.

Not unlike the electrician who thanked me for giving him a new one the last time he did some work for us, because he had lost his and gotten sick. He was glad to have a new one. He didn’t want to get sick again.

Sometimes a maskless person indoors or in close proximity with other people would like to have a good face mask, but simply doesn’t have one. Maybe they aren’t sure where to get it. Maybe they can’t afford it. Maybe, like the electrician, they lost theirs and haven’t gotten a replacement yet.

Not everyone in such a situation says yes when I offer one. That’s up to them. The way I see it, making the offer isn’t rude. It’s a courtesy. Not making the offer would be rude and inconsiderate.

To mask or not to mask, that is the question… unless you don’t have a good face mask and want one.