We all have our masks. Some are homemade. Some are store bought. Some we received from the NYC Parks Department, other government or civic-minded community organizations. Mine include several from a box I bought at least five years ago, one from the Parks Department and the ones I ordered from the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation and Lacoste.
The Smithsonian National Museum of American History is probably already working on a Covid-19 exhibit. You can be sure there will be a collection of all types of masks and gloves. Hopefully, it mentions how people who were so worried about not catching the virus tossed their PPE on the floors of our nation’s streets. Many lessons can be learned when this pandemic passes. Likely there will be plaques and monuments of the hero first responders on the Mall on Washington, DC, our parks, government buildings, police, fire departments, etc.
I’ve washed my masks with the laundry. Sometimes I wash them in the sink with warm water and dish-washing detergent. So do you want to save your mask as a memento? I don’t. Once the restrictions are lifted and it is truly safe to walk freely, I will jump up and down. Party Time.
What about those “lovely” masks and gloves? Well, the gloves I will keep. I always have a stash of those. I wear them when I am cleaning. I clean nonstop. So they will go to good use.
As for the masks, I encourage mask “retirement” bonfires. I will happily build them. People can drop off their masks in a sterile box. We can truck them over to the bonfire site. Light the match, dump the masks, sing some songs and sip whatever drink you like. And if I can burn up Dystonia when that mask is ablaze and rid us of that in the fire, all the better.
Other posts can be viewed at:
“Pandemic Watch, Staying in Shape,”
https://mitchellthoughtsblog.wordpress.com/2020/06/17/pandemic-watch-staying-in-shape
“Pandemic Watch: Community groups stepping up,”
https://mitchellthoughtsblog.wordpress.com/2020/06/15/pandemic-watch-community-groups-stepping-up
“Pandemic Watch: Have masks replaced fuzzy dice in windshields?”
“Pandemic Watch: How will we be entertained?”
https://mitchellthoughtsblog.wordpress.com/2020/06/08/pandemic-watch-how-will-we-be-entertained
“Pandemic Watch: Communicating via video,”
https://mitchellthoughtsblog.wordpress.com/2020/06/03/pandemic-watch-communicating-via-video
“Single Life,”
https://mitchellthoughtsblog.wordpress.com/2020/06/02/pandemic-watch-single-life
“Pandemic Watch: Seniors and lifesaving phone calls during the pandemic or other times,”
“Pandemic Watch: There are places I remember.”
https://mitchellthoughtsblog.wordpress.com/2020/05/28/pandemic-watch-there-are-places-i-remember
“Pandemic Watch: Creating a new fashion statement,”
“Pandemic Watch: Sitting on your stoop,”
https://mitchellthoughtsblog.wordpress.com/2020/05/26/pandemic-watch-sitting-on-your-stoop
“Pandemic Watch: What does a four-year-old think about our situation?”
“Pandemic Watch: Will my nephew ever know how good it was?”
“Pandemic Watch: What will happen when I get released on parole?”
“Pandemic Watch: We live in interesting times,”
https://mitchellthoughtsblog.wordpress.com/2020/05/14/pandemic-watch-we-live-in-interesting-times
“Pandemic Watch: Dressing during the Covid-19 pandemic,”
“Pandemic Watch: Yes, it is Monday,”
https://mitchellthoughtsblog.wordpress.com/2020/05/11/pandemic-watch-yes-it-is-monday
“How skills I learned as a teen in the scouts help during the Covid-19 pandemic, “
“How the Covid-19 pandemic causes us to rethink old habits,”
“Traveling on public transit and being outside during the Covid-19 pandemic,” https://mitchellthoughtsblog.wordpress.com/2020/04/29/traveling-on-public-transit-and-being-outside-during-the-covid-19-pandemic
“Grocery shopping during Covid-19. Or anytime,” https://mitchellthoughtsblog.wordpress.com/2020/04/28/grocery-shopping-during-covid-19-or-anytime
“I want to help restaurants during the pandemic. But…,”
“Masks and gloves,” https://mitchellthoughtsblog.wordpress.com/2020/03/30/608
“Trashy Parks,”
https://mitchellthoughtsblog.wordpress.com/2020/01/07/trashy-parks
Mitchell's thoughts, photos, etc. 
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