Of Masks and Honor 😷🎭

Reasons why I’ll continue to wear a mask most of the time outside even though vaccinated:

• Both Philip and I have underlying health issues that weaken our immune systems, and we don’t want to take unnecessary risks.

• Two of our (fully-vaccinated) adult children also have autoimmune conditions, and it’s too early to tell how that might affect the efficacy of the immunization.

• Four of my grandchildren still are not old enough to be vaccinated, and I worry about the risks to them.

• I haven’t had an upper respiratory infection of any kind since March 2020, when masks first came into our every day lives. (That’s a big deal, because between 2016 and 2019, I came down with severe cases of late-season flu that lasted 10 days in one case and 15 in another.)

And, last but most important, the new guidelines rely heavily on the honor system…something that I’m almost (but not quite) chagrined to admit I haven’t always been good at. (Not quite chagrined because, you know, grace.) 

So permit me to share a personal story:

When I was a little girl in parochial school, I used to love going into the parish church after school to light a candle. I would dutifully put a tissue on my head (this was in the pre-Vatican II days, when head coverings were a must), put my nickel in the offering slot, and proceed to light a votive. Then I’d carefully look to one side and then the other and light as many candles as I could for my nickel. 

I failed the honor system at a young age. 

(This, I might add, is a genetic predisposition. One of my children, about the same age as I was during my compulsive candle-lighting period, was with me at a wedding rehearsal in a Roman Catholic church and did precisely the same thing, except the candles were of the electric kind.) 

I worry that the honor system will be put to a test even greater than a young child’s when it comes to masks. Especially since masks - and the pandemic itself - have become politicized, a further deepening of our cultural divide. 

Will there be folks who, unvaccinated, will unmask, even if it puts others (think: children) at risk? The reality of fake vaccination cards for sale already points to the fact that there are persons who are willing to bend any and all rules, even those that are intended for the well-being of all. Are there adults out there feeling free to still channel their honor code-breaking inner child, as long as they’re not caught?

We all want life to return to normalcy. We’re getting closer. But we’re not there yet. So I’ll keep wearing my mask for the foreseeable future. For you, for me, for those who remain vulnerable, for the love of neighbor that my faith proclaims.

Besides, I’ve got a really cool collection of musical theater-themed masks that haven’t outlived their usefulness by a long shot.