Author: Mark Alexander

While getting supplies at Safeway yesterday and noticing that only about half the people there were wearing face masks, I said to Ben, “You know how to get everyone wearing masks? Convince them it’s sexy.”

ESPECIALLY gay men. Make it the new look and they’ll mask up faster than a restroom hookup the basement of the Union Square Nieman-Marcus in 1992. (Oddly specific, I know, but just run with it, okay?)

Our next door neighbor/landlord made a couple of masks for us, and in addition I ordered several additional cute and sexy ones for the two of us last week, as I suspect masking up in public is going to become expected—if not required—especially if there’s a second or third surge in Coronavirus cases (as there undoubtedly will be because of the premature “opening” of the states) as the year progresses.

If I am forced to return to work sooner than what I feel is reasonable and prudent based on facts, not the bloviating gibberish coming out of the White House, I have already notified my supervisors that I will be masking and gloving up the entire time I am back in the workplace. They were all on board with that and said they’d be doing the same. While the gloves will protect you against the virus, the mask really doesn’t, but it does help lessen the chance you’ll infect someone else and it’s a good, constant reminder not to touch your face.

Those same supervisors have already let us know that regardless of what the state decrees as “open,” we are going to ease back in, probably going to a rotating schedule where we’re one or two days in the office and the remainder working from home. While there are some things we do that require a physical presence on site, we’ve proven that we can do the majority of our work from home, so why not integrate that into a new work paradigm?