I had just bought two facemasks for my grandchildren back home, and the seller and I had discussed age, size, design, slowly finding a mutual understanding of what I wanted to buy. I ended up with a pink mask with stars and a green one with cute little foxes. There. The maske-selling masked lady's voice oozed with heartfelt empathy for the children having to wear masks now - more or less from the time they quit their stroller.
Masks are mandatory everywhere in Poland these days. Have been for ... four or five weeks at this moment? My sense of time gets blurred like my steemed up glasses. Restaurants and cafés have been closed for just as long, malls for two weeks. Street shops are open, but taking all necessary precautions, letting in only af few customers at a time. Parks and recreational spaces are crowded, though. Especially over the weekends.
Wait till you see just HOW people wear them. If your having a fag or a snack, you will of course pull down your mask. But otherwise I reckon that about 1/3 has pulled their mask under their nose or even under their chin. Many have chosen to wear a visor - either sheilding half or all of their face. They steem up, too, it seems. Young people wear more creativ designs, others stick to the disposable, single use mask ... not having figured out the metal clamp over the nose. Some people use this kind several times. Like for instance the old, scrubby lady in a dirty coat. As a good citizen she was wearing a mask that had turned grey over time from use and what not. The boundaries between ressourcefull, careless, poor, negligent, or swag mask-users are clear cut in the street landscape.
Back home in Denmark, people don't wear masks unless indoors or in public transportation. Sounds like a fairytale to me. Seems to be very, very far away. Another world. Not that I'm complaining. It's just a mask, and I'm figuring out which ones to wear when moving gracefully (dark blue with rhine stone decoration) or energetically (folklore flowers) in my hood - or when biking (and, yes, I pull the mask under my nose, when I ride my bike - steemed up glasses spell disaster if you're on a bike). No drama. Unlike parts of the discussions around the world.
And my granddaughter in Denmark? She keeps asking for a day off with mom, so they can ride the bus wearing stylish, Polish masks.
