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By the wonderful Grace Farris.
P.S. Love during coronavirus and no place like home.
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My friend, who is Deaf, is working on making transparent masks for this reason. They should be available next week here: https://maskhug.com/collections
I am concerned about the current conditions. Where the impact of the corona virus has paralyzed the world economy, even I have to take time off work from and spend a lot of time just at home. hopefully the corona virus outbreak will end soon and we can work again to meet our daily needs. Thank you for the information, I hope you and we are all given health.
so this mask thing is REALLY really hard on the deaf community, so many of us feel completely lost. At a lost for words, and it’s been a struggle. My husband does sign a bit, but even then when he’s wearing a mask out and trying to sign to me, and gets frustrated when I can’t understand him. It’s really rough. I have no idea if anyone is saying anything to me.
I’m working with a volunteer organization that is designing clear masks for the community, but the reality is, it’s not us that needs to wear it, it’s the general public. Though I love the idea, I also feel like it’s going to be a massive, UPHILL battle, I just can’t even.
Thank you for writing this. It sounds really frustrating, especially knowing that so many people could be wearing opaque masks for a long time. I’m grateful it’s on my radar to consider when I’m out and about (even though this introvert doesn’t talk much anyway). Knowing now that this is a problem, I wish I knew what we could do to make it easier to communicate more clearly around the masks. Hmmm.
My partner and I were just talking about this the other day. We were wondering if anyone is making masks with a partially transparent panel around the mouth to allow people to see/read lips. I teach young children, some of whom are English Language Learners, and they also benefit from being able to see someone’s mouth in order to follow along and understand new words. Not to mention that a visible smile can be very comforting for young children (and adults!). If you have information on the organization that is designing them, can you post it here, please? I’d be happy to try to support their efforts.
Or simply do a friendly nod! :)
I was discussing this today with a Trader Joes worker. We decided we would say “I’m smiling at you!!!” with jazz hands, or the good old fashioned wink.
i’ve been saying that a lot! to total strangers! or else I just squint extra hard and try to push my cheeks wayyyy up!
I was doing my shopping last week wearing a mask and was also having a bad day. I visibility walked around with a grumpy face and nobody could see it. No men telling me to smile, and no need to be fake or hide my emotions as women so often do. I felt an immense freedom that I haven’t felt in a long time.
Love this Nicole!
She is so good.
The first few days I walked around Brooklyn with my mask on I pointed at my mask and shouted, “I am smiling under here!”. Now I just do a (hopefully more low key) wave.
I read a story yesterday about some nurses in Victoria, BC who have started wearing “smile buttons” – buttons with pictures of their smiling faces – while at work. It helps them connect with patients who can’t see them properly through their PPE. It also helps the patients identify the different nurses, since so many of them look alike with all the gear on!
Just curious – has Grace been reunited with her kids? My heart goes out to her and all the other front line workers!
not yet, i don’t think!
My mother-in-law made matching masks for us with a cute seashell pattern (we love the beach and just missed out on an annual tradition of attending a seafood festival due to event cancellations.) On our last grocery run, we saw a woman glaring at us…we were trying to figure out what we had done…when she got closer (still 6 feet away, lol) we realized she was actually squinting, trying to see what was on our masks! “I LOVE your masks!” she shouted. Ha ha. It’s been so interesting how quickly people adapt (everybody in the socially-distanced grocery store line was sharing mask-masking tips for best fabrics and construction) and how we interact now.
between video calls and masks, i’m going to MASTER my wave / thumbs up / peace sign by the time this is all over.
I had to go out in person to a shop yesterday (daughter spilled water all over my laptop, yep, boom) and as I stood six feet back putting my dropoff in a plastic bag and sliding it down a chute to the worker he was telling me various disclaimers and I…responded with thumbs up and nods without saying anything. Like it was a Zoom call. I am a Zoom bot now and so is everyone I see, apparently!
something folksy for sure!! This is as close as I’ll get to homesteading in my life so i’m really leaning into (clinging to, more like) the down-home vibes.
Howdy, neighbors! My radishes are sprouting like weeds! Hows your squash faring?
I saw a woman the other day wearing a mask with “I’m actually smiling right now” embroidered on it, which I thought was so cute. As for me, I’ve mostly been doing the overly enthusiastic wave :)
that’s so cute!
I like Rachel Hollis’s idea of drawing smiling lips on the mask with red sharpie.
I like the double hand wave. Or arms in the air jumping up and down, that one always works!
hahaha so cute :) if i bump into a friend, i like the pretend hug from six feet away.
i’ve noticed i’ve also been thanking strangers less often because i don’t want to talk in their direction :(
This is good timing. I think we might have to start wearing masks in public here in WA and I’m curious about how my 10 month old will respond. I started practicing with him this morning – basically doing all of those things and singing our normal songs while wearing it. He liked it, actually. It makes me really sad and also hopeful for his future resilience.
that’s so sweet, elise. you sound like a great mom. i think children are so resilient!
Yes! What wonderful approach. I bet he’ll adjust just fine.
Also, these illustrations and ideas are fantastic. I will try to remember to use them!
I’m a pediatrician, and I’ve actually been surprised that infants seem to like the mask. I’ve noticed that at least 2-6 month olds laugh and smile even more than usual. I can totally imagine them thinking “wow – you sure look goofy with that mask on.”
When I waved through the window at my 18 month old granddaughter, while wearing a mask, she looked confused for a few minutes, and then seemed to ignore/forget about it.
I suppose for children they just assume it’s another weird thing that adults do that doesn’t make sense to them!.
OMG – that’s so funny! I always automatically smile when my eyes meet with a stranger’s, and I am thinking lately that it probably looks like I am squinting (glaring?) at all I come across because of the mask! I may have to add the maniacal wave moving forward!
i do the old eyebrow raise!
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