Eyes are now our focus. We can now imagine what it is like to wear a hijab or a burka. This is not the middle east, yet now we can see this aspect of the culture in a new light.
Is a mask a sign or modesty or mutual respect? We may have a new appreciation for our freedoms and our misjudgments of a culture that we need to study more in depth and did not take the time to understand.
We do not have to be a middle eastern princess or sudi aristocrat to learn about the mask and its many uses.
Some laughed at Michael Jackson or the Chinese Nationals who used masks when they flew, maybe they were more forward thinking than us.
Now we are left to contemplate how we wear glasses, lipstick, and all that we took for granted in between. Nose clips that fall off our face or coffee filters used to filter out breathing to stop the fog. Saharan dust storms that cross the carribean sea, moving up the states from the coastal shores to the gulf of texas and beyond. Even Michigan and Canada may get a taste during the worldwide pandemic of just how useful those masks can be.
It protects what we cant see or judge. Do we need a mandate to decide what is best for the nation, our family, or the neighbor or stranger on the street? Individualism or collectivism which we will choose. We are now at a crossroads of time and space and this is our lot. How we handle the next few weeks may be a determining factor in our fate.