Travails of Mask Wearing

The media has very seriously highlighted the travails faced by all our health-care workers; the issues they’ve had to deal with wearing PPE suits, double masks etc.

My heart truly goes out to them for the risks and the serious discomforts they have put up with. I imagined myself in their shoes, covered head to toe in plastic, going against your natural adult instinct n using diapers to answer nature’s calls. On a very tiny, miniscule level, I experienced some of this discomfort on my first full day back at work.

The day started peacefully enough till I answered a call from a dissatisfied customer. Unable to pacify him, I blocked the phone mic with my hand and whispered to the hubby asking for help. Through the mask it was just mumbo-jumbo. He went, “What?” and I whispered louder to no avail. Just a little louder mumbo-jumbo. Frustrated, I removed the hand blocking the phone, ripped off the mask and said at the top of my voice, “What do I tell this idiot as he refuses to understand?” 

Pin-drop silence in our packed store was followed by a voice squawking icily on my phone, “Mam, please send the replacement to our factory and the idiot will not call you again”. I was totally mortified and speechless; Sundeep thankfully took over with promises of free replacement to keep one of our important clients happy.

An experienced like this left me raw and low. Desperate to get the adrenalin flowing again, I called for a super large, super strong cup of coffee. I definitely needed the caffeine rush. The arrival of the steaming hot cup revived my sagging spirits. Proud of my multi-tasking abilities, I continued to tap away one-handed at the keyboard and reached for the cup with my left hand. Only to feel the hot coffee being absorbed by my mask n dripping down my neck onto the collar of my pristine white shirt!!! I wanted the earth to split open n swallow me up as my staff held back smiles n laughter with great difficulty.

I managed to pass the rest of the afternoon without attracting any undue attention to self and I sighed in relief as the working day wound down. But wait… Such incidents always happen in 3’s, how could I forget that!

With a tendency to dust allergies, it doesn’t take much to get me started on my sneezing fits. As the boys cleared out a few shelves, the dust rose. Smugly, I was glad of my mask, the same mask which I was cursing earlier in the day. But the cunning dust particle will always find their prey and soon I started to sneeze. I reached for my omnipresent tissue to blow my nose. There is no delicate way of putting this. As the store was relatively free of customers and staff alike, I blew my nose lustily… You guessed it, right into my mask!! The final icing (!!) on a cake which I never ordered.

19.9.20