I came across a dusty box under my bed yesterday. I opened it up and found all of the masks that I bought during Covid.
I had a purpose for saving them a couple of years ago, but now that purpose seems tasteless.
I was going to pin them all in a shadow box and hang them up on the wall. They were going to be my badge of courage that symbolizes those awkward years at the beginning of the decade.
I spent a shit ton of money on my mask collection. I had a Bears mask, a White Sox mask and a Blackhawks mask. I had a mask for Christmas, New Years, Mardi Gras, Saint Patrick’s Day and the Fourth of July. I had a Chicago Flag mask, an American Flag mask and a Union Jack mask.
I beat the shit out of all of them.
Here they all were laying on top of each other neatly. Worn out elastic and crusty snot stains from cold mornings waiting for the train.
I looked at each one of them and thought about how pissed I was walking around the grocery store wearing this shit on my face. I thought about the defiant prick that got on the train every morning and refused to wear his mask. I thought about my poor kids and the shitshow they had to go through.
I folded all the masks neatly and shoved the box back under my bed. I’m never going to make a fucking shadow box for Covid masks.
Can you see me inviting people over for a cocktail? Just so I can show off my “Masks of Covid” hanging proudly on the living room wall?
Absolutely fucking not going to happen…..
I came out of Covid in a better position. Covid closed my trading floor. Something that needed to happen years ago. It was time to shit or get off the pot. They closed that floor so quickly we didn’t have time to wipe.
Covid gave my dad a train ticket to heaven. He was wasting time in a nursing home eating bland food and waiting for a diaper change. I didn’t get a chance to see him before he departed, but now he is with me all the time.
I’m not sure what I’m going to do with the box of Covid masks under my bed. I don’t think they’ll ever have the historic significance that I thought they’d have down the road.
Maybe I’ll save them for Covid2?
Alright…. It’s Wednesday already and it’s gonna be steamy. Dust your nooks and crannies and go be astonished.
