#mask4mask

Time is Wasted

#mask4mask

Reading Time: 4 minutes

The photo is of me at Harley Davidson on the first day of mask restrictions. Before anyone gets too high on their high horses, I only own a motorbike for transport and I live in the ‘burbs. The steering was failing on my bike so I had to get it fixed. Either that, or spend $60+ a day on Uber Eats. So yes, my little outing to the dealership is essential. Also, the dealership, on entry, provided reusable face masks free of charge to customers, along with the usual sanitisation station. All staff at the dealership were wearing facemasks.

In Victoria, it is now, for the foreseeable future, compulsory to wear a face mask unless you fit in one of the exclusion categories.

As always, there’s a huge number of people pushing back saying that it infringes their rights, it is ineffective, it is punishing the innocent for those who did the wrong thing, blah blah blah blah blah.

I will admit, from what I saw initially, I chose not to wear a mask at the beginning because the effectiveness was highly debated. But we are being told to do it, regardless of how effective it may be. That said, if it is 20% effective, it is still 20% more effective than it was (I’m not saying it is 20%, the numbers could be higher or lower, but the point remains).

You can have those arguments all you like. The rule is simple, wear a mask, or part company with $200 in the form of a fine.

I get it, I don’t like wearing a mask, but as soon as it was a recommendation, I started wearing one in public wherever practical.

Now it is a requirement, I will continue doing this. I don’t like wearing it, I could probably get a letter from my doctor saying I have a valid medical reason not to wear one, but that’s selfish.

I Hate Wearing a Mask!

For as long as I’ve been alive, I’ve had problems with my mouth being covered. My absolute limit on tolerance is wearing my helmet, and even that took a little bit of getting used to in the summer during the hotter days.

For whatever reason, hot air causes me to panic. There’s probably no medical reason why heated air makes should make me panic, I probably still retain the same oxygen saturation and all that as if it was cold, but for whatever reason, it does. Same if the air is particularly dry.

On a hot day, wearing a helmet can make things a bit hard for me. I live with it, but underneath there’s a stress that I can’t shake easily. Because the helmet breaks the movement of air and causes something inside of me to start panicking. Again, I can’t tell you the logic, because there really isn’t any.

I have a similar problem with CPAP machines. I should be using CPAP as I have sleep apnea, but my body panics whenever I try and use it, to a point where even powerful prescription sleeping pills won’t knock me out. My body will stay awake with the machine on and I will not sleep. No logic behind it, just the air is kinda warm and dry and I have a mask on my face.

So, as you can imagine from the above, wearing a face mask is not comfortable for me at all.

But, I do it. I wear the mask because that’s what I’m required to do when in public. I could easily get a medical clearance to avoid it, but I won’t, because we all need to do as much as possible to beat this virus. If this is one of the things I need to do, then I’ll do it. I will tolerate the panic in order to do the right thing.

If I’m capable of this, then most other people should be too.

We All Make Sacrifices

This virus, as annoying as it is, affects everyone. We are all doing things we are not comfortable with. We are all making sacrifices we really don’t want to. I’m 3500km away from my family, I have a relative who may well not be alive by the the time I’m able to get to Perth again to visit them.

But if that happens, as sad as it is, that’s a sacrifice I have to make. I can’t ask for the rules to bend because I want to see a sick relative. If I can’t ask for that, then you can’t ask for the rules to not apply to you because masks make you uncomfortable. It’s a mask, get over it.

Wear a Mask or Get a Fine!

It is that simple. If I can do it, unless you have worse anxiety than me, you can. You are not being oppressed, your rights aren’t been taken away permanently, we aren’t becoming a police state, the military isn’t going to murder you in your sleep.

Wear your fucking mask, stay at home unless it is essential for you to leave, and if you feel sick, stay at home full stop. The Victorian government is offering support payments if you have no choice but to go to work if you’re sick. Click here for information.

There is plenty of other assistance available, such as if you need food if you’re self-isolating, or need assistance paying bills, or any other scenario you can imagine. Here’s some additional information on that, otherwise use Google and search for assistance options.

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