Making Statements

The mask as an art form is something I have been reading about lately. In my neck of the woods, people are not being adventurous. Masks are standard-issue and unremarkable. There are some that look could have been ordered from Etsy but even those have pretty tame designs. No one is trying to make a statement with their mask. The couple of times I went grocery shopping wearing my hand-sewn production, people gave me concerned looks. The mask was no work of art and certainly lacked in workmanship. It served as stop-gap until I could order some online. This designer goes way beyond functional with his masks. 

Would masks just become the acceptable social norm in the future? Would it ever get to the point where a person wearing one would not be subject to any judgment ? It seems reasonable. There might be any incontrovertible proof that pandemic truly over. Maybe it peters out, maybe there is a vaccine or not but could anyone be blamed to take measures they feel they need to in order to feel safe? In those circumstances wearing a mask could be as uneventful as wearing sunscreen - there is no mandate but its considered generally advisable. Instead of plugging your ears with head-phones to signal we don't want to socialize, we can now also cover half our face with a mask making it all but impossible to be engaged in social interaction. It would be an introvert's dream come true to be able to escape so fully without needing to feel awkward or uncomfortable.