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Medical slide, sort of, and long.

OK, you all know I have had a tantrum a couple of times over masks. Well, I haven’t worn one in 6-weeks. I decided to trust the Ivermectin instead.

Just for some background, I retired after almost 40 years from a company that uses a lot of very dangerous chemicals. I was trained in wearing and fitting the N95. I trained other people in how to wear them. I did random checks to make sure they were wearing them properly. I wore one for years in certain departments. Our chemical situation was so dangerous that you had to wear a helmet and oxygen type pack on your back in certain departments. I’m talking lead, mercury, manganese, acid, and more. So, I’m no stranger to masks and what they will and will not do. We were only allowed to wear the N95 for two hours before we were required to get out of the department, remove it, and breathe fresh air. We changed masks every two hours all day, no exception.

I know as well as anybody that the paper medical masks are not even close to the N95. I know why medical people wear them and it’s not to protect them. When Covid first started I had requests from nurses, Vets, and other medical professionals to sew masks. I went by the instructions put out by Vanderbilt hospital in Nashville that required certain material. I put adjustable ear loops on them to make them fit better. I put filter pockets in them. The medical people wanted them to wear over their paper masks to 1) keep their paper masks clean longer and 2) give them an added layer of protection. Keep in mind that this was before we realized that Covid wasn’t as bad as they said it was.

I know as well as anybody that the paper masks aren’t good protection. My feeling is/was that the only thing they were good for was in the case that somebody infected sneezed directly on you. They can temporarily stop large droplets but I know they will not stop the small virus particles. They are at best a temporary barrier.

I know that the same mask should not be worn all day the way some employers have required their employees to do. When you do that they CAN develop diseases, fungus, etc. inside the mask.

I know that they can inhibit breathing to a certain degree. My oxygen level stays around 98 to 99 when my asthma isn’t giving me trouble. With the mask on it falls to 95 or so.

I know that they can cause skin issues and infections. The N95 did that to me.

My husband retired from the same place I did so he knows all about how to wear them. There is nothing I can teach him about masks. His doctor told him to wear one when in crowds and he does. Mine told me the same thing 10 years ago but I was also told to always wear a fresh one and not for an extended period of time. They said to keep up the normal hand washing and other preventions BECAUSE THE MASKS AREN’T 100%.

Now, here’s the thing with me. I think for myself. I do my own thing. I do my own research. I don’t believe every link posted that is trying to tell me what to think and how to act. I check them out as part of my research but I also find my own sources. When I’m being talked down to like I’m the village idiot I tend to overreact some...OK a lot. It’s all downhill from there.

So, almost every statement that has been made in here about masks has been right to a point. Wearing them takes a lot of common sense. Not everybody can do that. With my experience with masks I know what they will and will not do. Most people do not. The main fault I find with most people wearing them is that they were not trained in how to wear one and for how long. They have been taught to trust the mask and you never trust the mask. It takes a lot more than that.

I know all the political reasons people don’t like them. I was wearing them LONG before Covid. Covid did not make me start wearing them. Politicians did not make me start wearing one. But, I am not going to let mask hate over politics stop me from what I feel I need to do. There is no reason to bully others and call others names over their decision to wear or not wear a mask. Maybe living in an area where we haven’t been forced, except in a doctor’s office, to wear them has made me feel differently about them. Nobody should be forced by any government to wear the mask.

Now, if the Ivermectin works like promised I may never wear another one during flu season because I figure if it works against Covid it should work against the flu. 😁 If so the best thing Covid did for me is to get me out of the mask in flu season. BTW, I haven’t worn one during Covid in summer, only winter, because my main reason has always been the flu.