Oh, trust me, I am among you. I have multiple masks which get regularly washed and worn. You can protest all you want how it takes away your freedom to be told to wear one. Go and have that argument with someone who has a loved one in the hospital trying to survive COVID-19.
Sorry - this was supposed to be a short and slightly humorous. Here's the thing. We all find masks and face coverings warm, acne promoting, eyeglass steaming, restrictive, annoying, can't wait to get them off our face apparel. But for the moment, this is where we are in our existence. However, I firmly believe that there will come a day in the not so distant future (not this year - sorry) that SARS-CoV-2 will be controlled and we will be given the all clear to take off our masks and leave them off and we won't be sorry we did. Take a moment to think about that day to come and smile.
Now, what the heck are we going to do with all the masks we've accumulated. Toss them all out? Aren't the landfills and trash barges overcrowded enough as it is? But the reality is that that's likely what the majority of people will do. Oh, some will hold onto them for the next pandemic or "just in case". Some will donate them for use for something else somewhere else. Some will try to recycle them a bit, wash them one last time and then use them as dusting cloths, piece them into post-COVID quilts, or turn them into fashion that isn't worn on the face for a change. There is no perfect answer as to what to do with them all.
Yet, I have this suggestion for one of your masks. Just one. Burn it.
I know this has already been done in protest by anti-mask wearers, a STUPID gesture if ever there was one. I also realize this is an untimely suggestion in the face of wildfires burning on the West Coast of the U.S., and I mean no disrespect to those who fight the fires and those who have sadly been impacted by any loss as a result of that devastation. However, I'm talking controlled, celebratory ignition of a single face mask that wouldn't be happening right away, and by the time we get there, we might be ready to do more than just toss them all in a trash can.
Although I'm old enough to have burned my bra during the early days of the feminist movement, I never did. It was symbolism, pure and simple, and not really necessary. But, the liberating aspect of the action does have some appeal, especially after all these months of being compliant in covering noses and mouths with paper or fabric protection.
Again, I don't think the final day of wearing masks against COVID-19 is happening in the immediate future. But it will happen soon enough, and when it does, even if it's just me, a mask and a match in my driveway, there's gonna be a celebration.
