Compulsory mask-wearing

Oh dear. Masks are to be compulsory on all public transport. Thank goodness I got Fiona serviced, MOT'd, rebraked and reshod with new front tyres. I can be independent of all public transport for the entire year ahead, and hopefully avoid this mask nuisance.

And it is a nuisance. You can't say that wearing a mask, or any face-covering, is truly comfortable or convenient. It would be bearable with a shrug if such a thing genuinely fended off all viruses floating in the air, but it can't. You'd need a closed-circuit respirator for that - basically a helmet and oxygen cylinder - as worn by astronauts, divers, firefighters and crews going into harmful environments full of noxious gases. And then submit to a thorough hosing-down before taking the kit off, to avoid all contamination. No, the kind of masks we shall all be required to wear will offer far less than 100% protection, whether breathing in (protection for oneself) or breathing out (protection for others nearby). Homemade masks and improvisations using tied scarves least of all. It's a belated gesture to the appearance of protection, no more.

Well, of course, I'm still carrying the home-made mask I made a couple of weeks ago, just in case. But if I find myself in a situation where I must put it on, it will feel as if I'm simply complying with the law. I won't feel safe. In fact, so far as I can, I will avoid all situations where a mask will be compulsory. I'd much rather rely on social distancing and not touching surfaces in public places, except with feet and elbows. Or have gloves handy.

Gradually the risk of infection will recede, and become an acceptable everyday hazard. But that may be months away. I'm not pinning my hopes on any vaccine being found, ever.

Keeping some measurable distance between myself and other people - greetings and farewells apart - is actually the norm for me, and I'm not at all pining for hugs and kisses. I'm not naturally a touchy-feely person, and I don't miss these things. But I imagine that lots of people do, and must be slowly getting desperate for an embrace. It's a terrible world when you want to reach out and touch, and hold a hand, but mustn't. No wonder poor mental health, in its various manifestations, has lately become such a big issue. At least the last stigmas attached to discussing one's state of mind should dissolve, now that everyone, worldwide, can admit to feeling low on account of virus-caused social deprivation, if nothing else. Solitary confinement was always a standard punishment in prisons and internment camps. And now an awful lot of people, everywhere, right across the social spectrum, must know what a bleak thing it is to need physical people-contact and yet be denied it. And not because they did anything wrong.

And now that the lockdown is being eased, and the confinement is ending, a new imprisonment is being imposed: we must wear masks, starting with public transport, but no doubt soon in every public space. No friendly smiles to see then, because they'll all be covered up. It will be very hard to recognise any friendly face. All heads will seem the same from a distance. We'll all be anonymous.

I think this is appalling, but for sure some people (are they frightened of life?) will actually like being masked and indistinguishable from others - they'll feel better able to cope if they can scurry about and not be known. They won't be stopped and engaged in conversation. Dark glasses and a hat will complete their hermit outfit.

Masks hide the person underneath, and make them both bold and vulnerable. The thing Batman feared most was not the Joker and his other criminal adversaries, but simply being unmasked. It took away his power. And that must be true of any police officer in riot gear. Remove the face-shield, and he is just a man with a baton, a fellow human-being.

Me, I absolutely don't want to be covered up. I want to be seen and recognised. I don't want my individuality hidden beneath a mask, my status as a human being obscured. I don't want to be 'just another mask-wearer', especially to persons in authority. I can't help thinking that it's much easier to ignore, show indifference towards, or even ill-treat an anonymous mask-wearer, compared to somebody whose expression can be seen, and whose voice isn't muffled.

And this is the real reason why I am glum at the thought of having to put on one of these things. I will feel robbed of my personality, dehumanised, and in some way gagged.