The Mask

As we near the end of winter, although coming from Minnesota, this was hardly a winter...I should probably mention the mask. You see people wearing them ALL the time, no matter what season, but they are clearly more popular during cold and flu season. I wanted to snap a bunch of pictures, but I didn't think strangers would appreciate me taking their photo and there were so many good ones, like rows of people on the subway all wearing a mask - so close. Instead, I had my mom act like she was posing and took pics of the foot traffic behind her.

There are a few reasons for the mask, at least these are what we have come up with:

1. To help those with allergies

2. To prevent the spread of your germs to others

3. To avoid the germs of others

4. Keeps your throat moist as you are not inhaling dry air while you try to recover from your cold/cough

Then there are those people who just hack away on the train without the mask and now all I can think is, 'Geeze! Put on your mask!' I am also surprised that at school it just isn't mandatory to wear a mask particularly in the winter. It should just be part of the uniform, particularly in preschool. They come in kid and adult sizes and I believe there are some with designs although I typically just see people in the white version.

Jack was just diagnosed with strep throat today. I am thinking I should go buy him a mask as we are planning on taking a trip to Thailand in 10 days and with our track record I'm a bit nervous.