MEDIUM RARE
Jullie Y. Daza
This business of wearing a mask as a weapon against the deadliest virus of our time has other virtues going for it. For one, it imparts a mysterious air to its wearer. It also hides his or her imperfections from the bridge of the nose down to the chin, in that way highlighting the face’s most expressive feature, the eyes. (Filipinas have the most beautiful, soulful eyes in Asia, bar none!)
With their mask on, most people should look as seductive as the Mask of Zorro.
When COVID-19 broke out in big numbers again in the US recently, CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta recommended the use of N95 masks. Worn for three weeks, he said, they “will bring transmissions down.” Like an automaton, I rushed into my bathroom to rummage through the shelves to look for the N95 medical (or surgical?) masks left for me by my daughter. This is what the manufacturer, 3M, says in the warning displayed on its face in easily readable type: “This respirator helps protect against certain particles. Misuse may result in sickness or death. For proper use, see supervisor or box or call 3M 1-800-247-3941 NIOSH.”
It goes without saying that adults should never let children use an N95 mask!
With daily infections surging amid the dangers posed by the Delta variant, experts are telling us to use two-masks-as-one for added protection. Two masks spell something like P6 per day added to the cost of transportation and meals -- how much compliance to expect from daily-wage earners, given that barangay watchers and cops at checkpoints wouldn’t dare ask you, would they, to pull down your mask or masks while you’re being interrogated.
It’s exhilarating to see how pedestrians, drivers, vendors and others caught on TV in living-color close-ups have invented their own face-mask designs, like using a cowl collar to stretch it all the way to the bridge of the nose in one seamless stroke. More ingenious than those artfully designed by Cultural Center of the Philippines for Rustan’s.
Not all masks are born or worn equal, but the experts in IATF should know that when you buy one million items in one go, you have the power to force a discount, not an out-of-this-world overprice, on the bulk sale.