I’d Rather Be Dead Than Look Like a Muzzled Dog
Other than the few people who have no chin, everyone looks uglier wearing a COVID mask. It’s not that I’m a vain person, but why would I make myself look ugly because some bureaucrat says I should?
Besides, only old people die of COVID 19. Yes, I know I might get the flu, but I’m pretty sure I’d get over it, because, after all, I’m not in a nursing home!
Or, “I’m 20, I’m young!”
Or, “I’m only 40, I’m pretty young!”
Or, “I’m only 60, I’m not that old!”
Another thing. These masks are really not comfortable. Still another thing—the bureaucrats say that I should wear a mask to keep you safe, and you should wear a mask to keep me safe. What are we, brothers? I don’t even know who you are.
That is, unless we happen to be sitting next to each other, drinking, in a crowded bar. I don’t know about you, but by one in the morning with six down I might be real sentimental. I might feel that you are my brother and hug you. I sure don’t want to be wearing a mask then!
I Don’t Mind Looking Like a Muzzled Dog if it Saves My Life
I agree that wearing a surgical mask doesn’t make anybody look pretty, but if we are all wearing one, they are a great appearance equalizer. I find that I now pay less attention to a person’s clothing; I focus on their face, precisely because it is half-hidden, and wonder, who is under that mask?
Lately, I’ve noticed a funny thing about masks, and who wears them. Now that I’m used to seeing people wearing them, when I see someone in a crowd who is not wearing one, that person stands out as a problem.
Until March of this year, when theaters shut down, I used to like going to plays. Even though I am hard of hearing I never wanted to sit in the first or second row because I don’t like to be spat upon. Actors and singers expel clouds of droplets, and the footlights make them visible to audience members in the first row.
As soon as I leave home I put on a mask. I never know when another person will appear. It is annoying and interferes with easy breathing. But I could never forgive myself if I found out that I was an asymptomatic spreader and had made others sick with this dreadful, possibly fatal disease.
–Bert Pepper, MD
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