February 10, 2022 general

…well…pretty much everything is wrong.

These are masks that I accumulated over the last 2 years. The problems:

• Now we know that the only type that is useful is the white N95 (with 2 yellow bands) shown on the left. (If you can smell a toot through your “face covering”, it will not keep viruses in or out.)
• It is not good to keep using the same mask. (e.g. just because I like the purple one better.)
• These were not being kept clean where I had them—hanging on door knobs or stuck in purses, pockets or brief case. Most of these 16 were hanging from my gear shift lever.
• What you can’t see here is whether the masks fit properly. Usually, they do not. Even if the person covers their nose and mouth, you see gaps on the side. Note, if exhaling in the cold steams up your glasses, the fit is not close enough.
• They make me sad because I think of all the children who’s emotional and education development has been seriously stunted by being required to wear masks all day. Even the Surgeon General this week stated that they are harmful for children.
• A waste of money. Well to be honest, not usually my Most of them were given to me by a doctor or dentist or were from a large box that Bill bought at Home Depot. The cloth ones were too tight. The one with the red lips looked like a fun idea, but the mouth didn’t line up right and so it looked pretty dumb.
• Masks can possibly lead to dangerous misunderstandings—e.g. when I make a smart aleck remark, people cannot see that I am grinning.
• Wearing masks interferes with proper oxygenation.
• Wearing the masks probably gives people the idea that I buy into all the nonsense we’ve been told.
• Read a serious review of masks. And, here is a recent study showing that they at least cut in half the distance exhaled particles could travel.