Today is the first day, of the rest of my life. At least it seems that way. I should trademark that term, because now that California is opened-up and we don’t have to wear our masks in public anymore we’re free to start living again. I feel like that guy from the musical Phantom of the Opera who wore a mask because, a, well, I didn’t actually see Phanton, but I know the lead character had a mask…. or a hat and at the end of singing all those long songs, didn’t he take his mask off?
The mask that the “Phantom,” Erik, wears over his face symbolizes his vulnerability and the injustice he suffers from, as he is forced to hide his face because it causes too much horror in other people. Although the mask gives Erik some control over his life, as it allows him to decide when to reveal his real face, it also signals that he has no control over one crucial factor: other people’s reactions.
OK, now that I’ve read the plot of Phantom, it does kind of relate to the mask we’ve been wearing the last year. Was I the only one who felt vulnerable injustice in the COVID state we’ve been living in the past 15 months? I’m no GQ model, anymore, and while my mask wasn’t hiding ugliness, I did feel if I took my mask off in public I couldn’t control other people’s reactions. Mask shaming was real. I think we can all agree that the Corona Virus was ugly, like Erik, and yet we’ve all been living life as Erik. Well today, June 15, 2021 is the day when when Governor Gavin Newsome says we can reveal our faces once again unless…………..
I want to go to the bank. Wells Fargo, Band of America, Chase, Citibank and even credit unions (which are like junior banks). All of these financial institutions would still prefer I wear a mask when coming into their establishment to ask for some of my money. If I don’t like it I can keep my money at home at the Under My Mattress Savings & Loan.
I want to go the post office. NO, the USPS still wants me to wear a mask when I come in to mail a letter, package or purchase a sheet of Hello Kitty stamps. I also get the pleasure of waiting in a long line.
I want to go to the grocery store. Well, Safeway, Lucky, Draeger’s, Andronicos, Whole Foods all kinda want me to still wear a mask when I come into shop for my Fruit Loops, Pringles, turkey burgers and hummus. 7-Eleven might be a little looser if I just need a Slurpee.
I want to go to out to eat. Unless I’m mistaken, most of my favorite restaurants, such as Olive Garden, Five Guys, Panda Express and the Taco Bell Cantina, all are still expecting me to “mask up” if I want to come in and order a little something when I get hangry.
I want to go into an office building. I work in an office building and yes, I am expected to wear my mask into the lobby, hallways and restroom, but I do take it off when I “do my business” in stall #2. I also take my mask off when I go into my suite. That’s pretty sweet because at least I can now go into the office and stop working from home in my pajamas and participating on a million Zoom calls.
I want to go to a sporting event. Knowing that I watch football, baseball, basketball, soccer, hockey and LAX with my eyes, I don’t have to cover our eyes, just my nose and mouth. That is until I get hungry and want to dig into a stadium dog, nachos and a cold beer…..for $89.00
I want to attend a concert. Knowing that I listen with my ears, my ears don’t have to be covered, just my nose and mouth. At least until I get hungry and want to dig into a stadium dog, nachos and a cold beer…..for $99.00. Apparently, they mark the prices up at concerts.
I want to visit the zoo. Well the giraffes and camels are requesting their I wear my mask to avoid that dreaded human to animal COVID transmission. It seems that new Delta variant is making everyone a little nervous.
I want to go to a movie. However, with the Top Gun movie coming out on July 2nd, I’m prepared to double mask and wear a face shield if I that’s what it takes to see that long awaited sequel to the 1986 hit starring Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer. Who could forget the epic line delivered my Cruise’s character Maverick, “I got a need for speed”?
I want to travel. No, wait for it, I do still have to wear a mask on an airplane per the website instructions from Southwest, United, American, Delta, Aloha, etc. However, travel restrictions might be a little looser on Spirit and Frontier, but you also might need to act as the flight attendant or actually fly the plane.
I want to gamble or enjoy the entertaining music at a strip club in Las Vegas. Apparently craps dealers and strippers, excuse me, exotic dancers, both still want more separation from the customer.
Come to think of it, maybe Phantom of the Opera was the wrong mask reference. Maybe I was thinking of the movie, The Mask staring Jim Carrey where a hapless, everyday bank clerk finds a magical mask that transforms him into The Mask, a cartoonish, mischievous, genuinely insane, green-faced troublemaker with the ability to alter himself and his surroundings at will who later on becomes a crimefighter. Come to think of it, I was starting to feel a little cartoonish, mischievous and genuinely insane wearing my mask. Lets hope this pandemic is essentially over and we can all get back to life as we knew it, maskles
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