Leslie and I went out to get a frozen yogurt the other day. A grandmother and grandchild were in front of us, four people maximum in the shop.
I watched the young kid try to put the frozen confection in her mouth through the mask. Definite fail. I laughed. Leslie admonished me, said I embarrassed the child. Sorry.
Yesterday a friend showed up on the street and both wearing our masks, we exchanged idle pleasantries. She said something humorous and I smiled, an action unfortunately now completely buried behind cloth and lost to the world.
I thought to myself, a few moments later, we really have nothing in our physical or gestural lexicon that can signify a smile. We need something new, a specific hand signal or eye roll or head shake. We can't stop smiling, even if they can't see our lips.
I mailed my friend Kip this story. They banned burqas and head coverings in France, now everybody looks burqad up with the Covid 19 crisis. He said it was apples and oranges, I found it humorous and ironic.
This microbe has hit our planet like a comet, knocked everything out of kilter in ways that we would have deemed unimaginable just a few short months ago. Sailed right up our collective poop chute. And life as we knew it has changed forever. Smiles, hand shakes, fist bumps, congregations. Poof.
I know the President has proclaimed that it is all going to disappear one day in a flash, even without a vaccine. I wish that I had his optimism. We have no idea what the new normal will look like, none of us do and we won't until we get a better handle on this thing.
I saw a video of a mountain climber recently that said just the act of smiling releases dopamines that are good for your system and neural networks.
So you may want to crack a couple grins, whether life is funny or not, just for insurance and your general health and well being.
Let's have a good week.
1 comment:
Thanks for the picture of Mike. I really miss him. I think about him a lot.
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