In case of rain and definitely slush, I wear a raincoat when I go to crosswalk duty. (My hat goes flop when it gets wet.) And after four days of dealing with a sore throat I decided to wear a mask until the last minute (gotta blow a whistle, right?) and stand at my corner thus clad. Catching sight of myself in the Japanese confectionery shop window I thought I looked like I was a member of the White Cult that once featured prominently in Japanese news...I don't usually wear masks. Today's was to keep the cold air off my throat. I don't know if it worked. I guess I've posted about this before. Now, I'm going to get blasted by some of my Japanese friends about this but I dislike the custom of wearing masks and can find all sorts of imagined psychological reasons behind the custom. I don't trust the effectiveness of these little pieces of gauze, neither for protecting oneself nor for protecting others from cold and flu viruses. I sympathize with all the people in Japan who suffer hay fever and claim that masks filter the allergy spores, but I am astounded by all the people who have hay fever year round.
One of my friends gave me a present of a box of 50 face masks. I love her for the thought but I still haven't broken into the box... (The one I wore today was from a stash given to me during the swine flu outbreak last year.)I especially dislike the custom of the kindergarten teachers all wearing masks throughout the school day. Yes, I know that when cold and flu germs are prevalent that there might be a high concentration in the kindergarten (that's probably where I picked up my own cold germs) but continually wearing a mask during class gives me the message that the teachers think all their students are vile and contaminated or something. And it seems to me that someone who perpetually lives behind a mask is trying to put a wall between themselves and the rest of the society. There. I've said it. Blast me!
At the beginning of the school term I very politely asked a couple of the little girls in the kindergarten class if they were suffering from colds. If not, then would they please put their masks in their pockets during English class? And I explained that if they were sick then go right ahead and wear them (but if they are sick, shouldn't they just go home?) and if they had hay fever then they could replace their masks when they went outside to play but in English class, no thank you. And I politely gave my reasons. 1)I can't see if you are participating or not. 2) I can't see your expressions. 3)Mask wearing is not a custom in the Western hemisphere so it is somewhat disturbing to Western foreigners... and by the way, leave your masks at home if you are ever visiting the States. You will be considered odd. This last reason brought cries of surprise and disbelief.
The kindergarten teacher quietly removed her mask and it hasn't returned in MY class. That was the point of my lecture anyways.
I will dispose of my own mask as soon as possible. It's going to take me awhile to get through the box of 50.
8 comments:
Ah, yes, and for those of us who live in confined spaces (i.e., a ship) much of the year we are told the most important way to keep from spreading colds and flu is to wash hands regularly, sneeze into elbow, not hand, and stay home if you're sick! Good for you for telling the class that wearing a mask is unusual in the West.
We do have a number of Japanese guests on the ship and we see quite a few masks. That puts up a flag for the ship's docs to ask if the person is sick. At check in in the terminal guests are required to complete a public health survey and sign it. If sick, they are not permitted to board the ship for the cruise.
I so agree with you, I'll definitely take my chances on a cold or even the flu to be out among and interacting with family and friends or just traveling. It's one thing for the immunosupressed but another if worn for prevention.
Having just spent the day with a class of three and four year-olds, including recess on a rain drenched blustery playground, and the usual assortment of hands in the mouth and toys in the mouth and chewed soggy clothing, I figure what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Those who never see a germ never build up an immunity.
Riding on the jam-packed train to get there, however, is a bit more scary.
Hi Tanya, You are quite an amusing writer!! Does the teacher wear the mask everyday, sick or not . The kids only wear one when they are ill?? I went on a cruise last spring and the ship was one where there had been several outbreaks of passengers getting sick, so there was a huge push to use the gel sanitizers everywhere we went onboard. Luckily we all made it back to port without any one getting sick.
Mask wearing truly is an oriental custom that I've never fully understood or liked. When I was teaching I used to pick up a cold within the first few weeks of a new school year, as new children came into my class, but that was generally all. And since I've been retired I've had my fair share of health problems, but I never get colds; I reckon my immune system has been strengthened by so much exposure. There's a saying that I've always enjoyed - 'You've got to eat a peck of dirt before you die'; which I've always taken to mean that a reasonable amount of dirt and germs won't hurt.
My grandpa had to wear one in winter, his heart was SO bad that even going outside to get the mail, breathing the cold air, could be fatal. I can't see wearing one unless there's a sound medical reason though, and having read your previous posts, it sure doesn't sound like it! I really hate the thought of a teacher wearing a mask all through class. It's bad enough when I go to the dentist and he's wearing one.
I don't know why, but the picture of you with the mask brings thoughts about a movie with ninjas.Could there be a similarity?
Ida
Hi Taniwa, I noticed this on TV even prior to the earthquake. I bought some masks during our recent swine flue scare here in the US but I learned that the mask does not protect the wearer from germs. If you have a cold then wearing the mask would protect other people from your germs, we were asked to wear a make at the doctor's office if we had a cold or flu. I think people wearing masks to protect themselves are germ-phobic and they need to stop it. Actually, if you keep all germs away from yourself you will not build up any resistances of your own. The is true of children also. Harriett in US
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