When you wear a mask, you say, I respect you. I respect your health, I respect your privacy, I respect your space, I respect you. I can do anything I want with myself, but out of respect for you, I wear this mask.
This mask says I respect the nurses and the doctors who killed themselves through this virus to save other people. So I'm not going to infect anyone, or allow anyone else to be infected unnecessarily, so I don't cause more stress on the nurses and the doctors.
This mask says I respect the essential workers who get up every day, and drive the bus, or drive the train, or deliver the food, or keep the lights on so that I can stay home and I can stay safe.
That is a statement that we should all be willing to make any day. But especially in the middle of this. It's a mindset that says it's not about me, it's about we. And we have reciprocal responsibilities, and a collective and a mutuality that says, I'm going to respect you, and help you, and you're going to help me, and respect me. That's how you battle community spread, with community unity. That's what the mask says.
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