December 13th, 2020Just sayin’…
THE mask thing is strange now. Yes, you have to wear them in places like large shopping centres and supermarkets but not in smaller shops, unless you can’t socially distance.
And shop owners don’t have to wear them either now, or hospitality workers. But some still do, and some don’t. I get the don’t ones – I find it hard enough to wear a mask for an hour or so – waiting time at the doctor’s etc – so I have no idea how people wear them all day.
Personally though, I like the ones that still do but I am happy to be served by people not wearing a mask because I will probably keep my own on for a while longer. Call me paranoid but it’s my first pandemic and I err on the side of caution.
It’s also because, despite almost a year, some people still have no idea what one and a half metres looks like. Basically if you can touch the other person, you are too close. And in that situation, and it happens quite often, if you are following the rules you need to be masked up.
But I get that it’s really hard and people are over it and if you judged what was happening from watching the media, you would think it is all over. But we have been burned in Victoria with the quarantine hotel debacle and we need a few more weeks taking back overseas travellers before I think we can say it’s done and dusted.
Meanwhile, my relatives in other states are living COVID-free lives and have pretty much done that all year. My sister-in-law lives in New South Wales and can’t understand what all the fuss is about. “We hug our friends all the time,” she said. “There is no COVID here.”
Up in Queensland, my brother and his wife have been back at dancing lessons, and we are talking latin dancing, since May. Yes, they started off only dancing with each other but quickly moved on to other dance partners. “There is no COVID here,” they said.
So it’s really been a year of the states and no matter how often it was advertised, we were never “all in this together”. The state leaders finally discovered their powers, took over and pretty much sidelined Scotty from Marketing. Finally, people not only knew who they were but could pronounce Annastacia Palaszczuk and Gladys Berejiklian. Luckily for Victorians, and all those journos out there typing it every day, we just had Dan Andrews.
Anyway, if you see me out and about, with a mask, that is just my preference for a bit longer. And let’s face it, I bought so many I really need to get my money’s worth.
And maybe I will donate the leftover N95s to a hospital somewhere. They might be the duck’s nuts of masks but they are hard work to breathe through and, if you read the fashion pages, don’t really match Summer clothing. Just sayin’…
