A Quick Evolution of Masking

After my laptop died, and I found out the harddrive was corrupted, and all my pictures were lost, I started backing up my phone photos, and noticed an evolution in my mask wearing that evaded my memory. I actually don't remember wearing cloth masks at school! 

I'm not much for selfies, but I did take a few along the way.

The last big crowd I was in was the strike action in February 2020, just before we knew that Covid was in Canada. We were all home from mid-March to the end of June, which put a kibosh on job action.

In September 1, 2020 we were back to in person learning with half the class at a time to allow for distancing - barely (but curiously all required to eat together in the room mid-morning, then go home for the afternoon - I'll never get over that bizarro decision). 

So many problems with this! We were told to mask, but were still discouraged from using store-bought masks, which were needed for medical staff. A friend sewed together some colourful masks for me. The useless face shield lasted a minute in class because nobody could hear me at all, and that faceshield does nothing to protect my eyes, yet shields were required for hallway supervisions. They really didn't understand that the virus moves like smoke, so can easily get around the edges of the shield. This might be protecting me about 10%. Luckily we were all masked at the time - except for 45 minutes each day. I just got lucky on this one. 

I was assigned a remote class, so after setting up my classroom, was moved into, basically, a closet to teach for the first quadmester -- my room was being used for an isolation room for sick kids if needed. 

It was never needed. 

This was when I first suspected they were hoping I'd retire soon and were gently nudging me out the door. I had to scrounge up a plank of wood to balance on an old radiator. By contrast, a supply teacher was given an entire portable of her own to teach remotely, and a part time teacher--who was permitted to work from home--laid claims to the library alcove that I was told I could use. I know I really have to get over this minor injustice, but can you even believe it!!

By December 2020, I had graduated to surgical masks for the second of four quadmesters. I had rotating grade 12 classes with half at home at a time. I taught hybrid and made it very easy for them all to stay home rather than come in. I used paperclips to make the mask snug at the sides, pulled the earloops tight with a gadget around the back, and added in a liner of stiff paper towel I cut out to fit from nose to chin in order to stop the accordion folds from going in my mouth as I talked (it worked!), and I was allowed these giant goggles instead of a shield. You can see my list of all the things we need to do to reduce transmission on the side board: masks, wash hands, avoiding indoor eating, distance, and limit unmasked contacts. According to Aaron Collin's calculations, a really well fitting surgical mask can reduce transmission by 94%!

For much of 2021, I opted for remote teaching, which, when we were allowed or required to teach from home, mainly looked like below with my cat a constant companion. At one point, I was allowed to teach from home, but still had to be in the building for my prep period. I lucked into an empty classroom for part of it, but for the other part, I set myself up in a rarely used stairwell rather than a department office full of unmasked teachers. Since WLU removed mask mandates, now I regularly spend time indoors with unmasked students! I trust my N95 and goggles more (and mini-HEPA and far-UV and an open window - which nobody tells me to close). And I can just walk out if too many people look really sick. As a teacher, I had to just keep on teaching while a kid in the front row repeatedly took off his mask to cough and blow his nose. I did comment to a few kids over the years about how best to break that very normal, natural instinct to quickly remove their mask whenever they had to cough, basically negating the very reason they were wearing a mask in the first place! 

My last term started February, 2022. I was usually in by 7:30 or earlier for 7-8 straight hours with a respirator on. I got used to it, but made a bee-line for the door to make it home in time for staff meetings. An extra two hours of a mask for an online meeting seemed an unreasonable ask. Zooming in to the picture below shows my CO2 monitor is at 516 ppm at the start of the day. Regular classes of 30 kids, four classes per day in the room plus lunch changed that pretty quickly. I was attached to a mic and online meet - not officially hybrid - because I kept online an option to cope with so many rotating absences. I just walked away mid-April after one too many admonishments from admin removing any semblance of rules or structure in my classroom, and just look at that mess on the walls and shelves! I'm still a bit sheepish about not cleaning it out at the end.

CO2 regularly hit over 2,000 ppm by the end of lunch. Admin insisted my windows stay closed: "Children can't learn if they're cold." They can't learn with a brain-invasive disease, either. Geesh!

I don't have a shot of myself in my final term at school, but seeing more kids sick and hearing of more deaths was enough for me to tape an N95 to my face and add a surgical mask on top to hide it. I think N95s still weren't officially allowed until partway through the term. I actually got up an hour earlier than usual to eat and drink enough for the entire day! We can get used to anything. 

One year post retirement and still Covid-free. I haven't been sick in over four years! And I really feel for all the teachers and students managing so many illnesses now that almost nobody masks anymore. I'm willing to be the oddball out there, showing the world there are still a few of us left, and we still do ALL THE THINGS!

Yup, I wear my mask biking as well as a helmet to protect my head, sunglasses for my eyes, SPF 30 to save the visible bits of skin from cancer, and a sleeve on my arm to keep my lymphedema at bay. I love that the mask filters out pollen, car exhaust, construction dust, bugs, and covid if I happen to bike through the crowded path by the university. No more sunscreen on my nose that gets diluted with sweat and eventually lands in my mouth before I hit the end of my 40k circuit, and my lips don't need chapstick re-applied. And if I stop at a store along the way, I don't have to think twice about just walking in. With the exception of the occasional snide remark, it's win-win. 

It's funny if you wear sunglasses, which covers half of your face, you're cool, but a respirator, which covers half of your face, and you're a loser. It's not just masks, but anything Covid related has become taboo now. Online claims have been made that some guys on a construction site were mixing concrete unmasked, which would never have happened four years ago and definitely shouldn't be happening now. Apparently they'd rather have lungs full of silica than look weak or fearful. My daughter works with horses all day, and when she gets home and starts to survey the kitchen for food, I have to insist she washes her hands first. "But I wasn't around anybody." It's not because of Covid, but because they're filthy! Or kids at playgrounds near one of the many fires happening right now, and parents won't put masks on them to prevent particulates from getting in their little lungs. Or this exchange:

Nurse wearing a respirator steps into the dictation room.
Attending: Didn't you hear that Covid is over?
Nurse: I just gave rifampin and isoniazid to the patient in bed 14 with TB. Did you want me to do that unasked?

All things remotely associated with the pandemic are off the table even when they make perfect sense for other reasons, even when we did them for years previously.

It reminds me of being a teenager, refusing to wear anything but my converse all winter because boots are for old people who can't tolerate a little cold and damp and sloshing around in icy-wet socks all day. I cared more about being cool than comfortable, and I'm just lucky to still have all my toes! To overcome that urge, I had to get away from that group of friends who provoked it as a status symbol. It's hard to avoid the anti-pandemic crowd either in person or online these days, so this will be a long strange trip as, mark my words, lawsuits start to provoke the return of some mitigations!