July 19 - Face Masks

In recent days, there has been some debate about legislating the mandatory use of face masks inside public spaces. The proponents of such legislation state that if we were all to wear face masks, this would help prevent the spread of the virus. Those opposed say that this legislation would infringe on their human rights. Others seem to waver between the two extremes. On the one hand, we would be told what to do for our own good. On the other hand, there are those who claim that they live in a free country and nobody can tell them what to do.

So, face masks – yes or no? Face masks can be hot and uncomfortable to wear. They can be inconvenient to take off and put on. It has been said that wearing a face mask can aggravate certain skin conditions.

What I really don’t like about wearing a face mask is that the mask seems to limit my field of vision. To see anything looking down, I need to move my head in that same direction. I am reminded of a young woman I met on my white cane connections walks back in 2012. This woman could only see out of one side of her eyes. It was as if a vertical line was drawn down the middle of both eyes and the left side was a complete blank. Apparently this same condition could affect the sight as if a horizontal line were to be drawn across the middle of the eyes and the field of vision would be only the top half or bottom half of sight. In a temporary way, this is what I feel like when I wear a face mask.

Those are the negatives. What about the positives? There is really only one. It is possible that wearing a face mask might help in preventing the spread of the virus.

Would I wear a face mask? Absolutely! Would I need to wait for legislation in order to put on a face mask inside public spaces? Absolutely not! Knowing that health authorities claim that if we were all to don face masks, we might help in preventing the spread of the virus - that is reason enough for me.

Our daughter had an interesting comment. Face masks really protect others from when we sneeze or breathe out air vapors. Jen wondered if attitudes might change if the face masks actually protected the wearer. Are we such a selfish society that we would need this as an encouragement? I would hope not. Let’s be smart and do all that we can to protect our friends and families.