I was socially distancing chatting with my neighbour the other day and she showed me three sets of masks she had bought. One set of four square masks had a pocket and came with 40 filters that could be inserted. They were produced by a local Polish woman.
A second one was a small mask with a dart and no filter option. The third option was a design I have seen with multiple layers and a pocket for filters that were not supplied. It did have a metal nose clip. That cost £4.
Home made masks are about stopping your virus from getting to others, especially when you cough. It is a bit like the “coughing in to your elbow” rule – with a permanent elbow fitted to your face.
All of them are pretty, but people seem to be making things from pretty material rather than functional material. The government website suggests using a t-shirt or two pieces of cotton fabric. The idea is you should be able to breathe through the face mask (not around the sides).
I’ve been trying different designs and I think I have come up with a winner. Old underwear (washed of course). The elastic material clings to the face really well, and if you get the right pair they need almost need no adjustment. It has the big advantage over the other designs that it also ensures nobody will dare to come within 2m of you – I mean who would get close to somebody wearing underwear on their face.
Why are trousers and underwear called a “pair” when there is only one item? I mean I can see the reason for glasses – there are two lenses.
And then there is the other puzzle. I have just been watching Mercury Rising. At the end the bad guy false off a building. Why is it that “bad guys” always smash through a glass roof near the ground when they fall?
I guess these and other questions will remain unanswered in my life, and I just need to accept it. There are so many people clamoring to find people to blame for the deaths in this pandemic. Is it that lab in China, is it that leaders failure to fill the cupboard, is it that delay over action? But what if after years of investigation we find that there is nobody that can be clearly blamed? Can we live with just not knowing?
It can be incredibly hard letting go of the need to blame and the need to hate people that we think have harmed us. I don’t want hatred to be the story of my life.