Thursday, March 4th, 2021

I get all the way to my office building before I realize that I’ve forgotten my mask. I usually remember to wear one. When I forget, I’m reminded by seeing someone else with one. There are usually other people walking on my street: with dogs, to their cars, or to the trash heap. I see them when I step through the gate. It’s raining today. I walk all the way to work before I see anybody else. I’m self-conscious as I go through the lobby and up to my office with a naked face. No one else seems to notice. Once at my desk, I dig into my shoulder bag. I keep a spare stash of masks in it just in case this happens. It hasn’t before. When I put one on later to go down the hall to the men’s room, I feel that it’s tighter than the ones that I have been wearing. My first thought is that it doesn’t fit as well. My second is that it fits better. Less air might escape. The tip of my nose is squished. but I can live with that. I don’t care for the generic pale blue. It reminds me of commercials for diapers and other absorbent things. I usually wear purple. But this mask will suffice for today.