Scandinavia and the World
Scandinavia and the World

Comments #9848309:


Masked Sarcasm 10 11, 6:13am

@Shitzadorina I'm in my 40's, and I caught covid from my son on July 4. While I've been lucky enough to avoid severe symptoms, it is November and the symptoms just keep dragging on. My doctors can't tell me whether I'm still contagious, and so I must stay away from my mother until I feel certain I won't be putting her at risk. You do not have that option, and I think your response is the right one.

A mask doesn't offer complete protection, but it can still catch tiny water droplets floating in the air from other people coughing/sneezing/talking, so I recommend you continue wearing one.

With regards to educating other Swedes... I am going to make a suggestion that may sound terrible, but consider it a half-baked idea that may lead to better ideas.

You could try ordering some masks with a warning printed on them (or a warning label you could attach to the outside of a mask). To accomplish anything, I believe the warning would need to be extremely short, simple, blunt, and direct. You would want to use a font as large as possible so people can read it more easily (and quickly) from a distance. Perhaps something like...

Brother: Gone!
Father: Gone!
Mother: At Risk!

People approaching from the side may not see it, so you may need to turn your head to face people approaching you now and then, and perhaps make eye contact to make sure they're paying attention. While this sounds terrible to me, if I saw someone wearing a mask with a message like that, I cannot imagine myself (or anyone who isn't a complete sociopath, or maybe a New Yorker) being disrespectful about it. It may also make others around you re-consider whether they should wear one, too (though I think that's less likely).

Right now I can't think of anything besides literally wearing a sign that would get the message across without you having to explain it to every single person who comes near you (at which point they're already too close). Maybe you could switch to a heart-shaped patch worn on the sleeve? (Yes, that's a bad joke. I'm a dad and, we're practically obligated to make bad jokes. ;-)

Thoughts?