What’s Your Relationship With Masks? By Jiselle Ragno

  With Coronavirus making its rounds across the world, many people seem to struggle with the use of masks and how they affect everyone. Masks are said to slow down the spread of Coronavirus when used correctly, however, people still have a problem with wearing them.

People claim that masks make breathing more difficult, they get hot, they steam up glasses, and they hide facial expressions. All these factors are understandably annoying and can make people not want to wear a mask. Not only is the mask uncomfortable, but it can be argued that it puts a lot of stress on people. 

Society now puts pressure on when and where to have a mask on. You cannot wear masks while eating or drinking but that can risk the spread of the virus which puts some people on edge. For example, Dr. Klitzman wrote that he entered a party and saw that no one had masks, however, being a doctor he felt that he should wear one. He mentioned how people were staring at him and that made him uncomfortable as he felt people were seeing him as overprotective and "uncool". Even though the law is to wear a mask in groups of people, it can still make you stand out if no one else is wearing them. Another problem is whether or not to wear them at family gatherings. Even though they are your family, you don't know where they have been or who they've come into contact with lately. Some family members will get offended and think that you see them as unsanitary if you wear a mask around them but it is purely for the sake of everyone's health. In my own experience, My grandma's birthday happened during the start of Coronavirus. My whole family went to her house and we all just hung out on the deck. My immediate family and I all wore masks, but the rest of our family did not. We could tell that they were wondering why we had them on and that they thought we were being rude instead of just cautious. Masks can give you a lot to think about such as social pressures, but if they help stop the spread of the virus, it is important to wear them. 

Work Cited: Doyne, Shannon. “What's Your Relationship With Masks?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 14 Sept. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/09/14/learning/whats-your-relationship-with-masks.html.