@CP24 Experts would like to see non-experts stop blaming everything but what is hiding in plain sight. Check out when absences skyrocketed for both students and teachers. @CP24 Now check out why.

There’s a common belief that you can only have a life worth living if you do it maskless. Is this because masks get in the way of the majority of life experiences?

No.

Most life experiences can be modified while still maintaining the core of what makes them worthwhile. (1/x) So, what is the problem if it isn’t the actual mask?

People.

People who have a problem with others wearing a mask - adapting to change (even when you don’t like it) & getting on with life - these people create the largest barriers to living well for those still masking. (2/x)

🚨 Friends, this is important in a stop what you’re doing and sign right now kind of way.

The Canadian Aerosol Coalition has created a petition in support of implementing CSA mask standards in Canadian healthcare settings.

We’re talking about nearly universal respirators‼️

🧵 From the petition (that will be linked below, and you should 💯 sign) 👇

“We call on all professionals and community members concerned with health, safety, science, and ethics to support this standard as a critical part of pandemic resilience and healthcare sustainability…

16 yo is having dental surgery next week & the initial meeting involved quite the confrontation w/ the surgeon re: masking.

Let me be 100% clear - I do not enjoy conflict.

I do not relish taking on ‘experts’ in hierarchical settings.

It is never comfortable. (1/3) BUT it is often necessary.

I can do important things, even when they scare me.

Even when people might think I’m difficult, a pain, overreacting, etc.

I can speak up for what matters - for WHO matters - especially when they can’t do it themselves.

I can do the hard thing.

Massage therapist walks into the room, “Why are you wearing a mask?”

Things I thought about saying…
1. So I won’t give you Tuberculosis. Would you like me to take it off? *smile* 2. Because if I get sick, people who have such a big problem with me even wearing a mask to protect my health sure aren’t going to be lining up to take care of me.

“I used to wonder why the 1918 Spanish Flu faded from public consciousness, why there were so few works of art depicting it or inspired by it, but now I understand. Who would want to remember the particular combination of grief, terror, and loneliness that a plague inspires…” 👇 Alt text 1: “I used to wonder why the 1918 Spanish Flu faded from public con-sciousness, why there were so few works of art depicting it or inspired by it, but now I understand. Who would want to remember the particular combination of grief, terror, and loneliness that a plague…

15 yo: “My art teacher said something that made me mad, but I’m POSITIVE that you’re going to be more mad than me.”

Me: (braces) “Okay. What was it?”

15 yo: “She used masks as an example of a trend, said now that the pandemic is over they’re not useful, but some people… 1/2 “…choose to wear them to express themselves.”

Friends, this is a REMOTE teacher.

We are 4 yrs into a pandemic driven by an AIRBORNE virus.

We are facing a potential #Measles epidemic in Canada.
Measles is also airborne.

Respirators are some of the most useful tools we have.

I’m going to take this a step further and say that sexism and ableism have both contributed to an avalanche of women having Long COVID.

1. Women are more likely to be front line (read: high exposure/ low paid/low organizational power workers).

https://twitter.com/1goodtern/status/1751166176690913571

2. Studies have shown that women are not given the same physical clearance given to men. This can be a bit of a problem when trying to maintain distance (avoiding close range transmission).

Welp, it finally happened.
Standing in a crowded food court, an elderly woman gestured to my N99 and then to her own unmasked face: “It’s okay that I don’t wear a mask now, right? I’m just asking because you’re wearing one. I don’t need to, though, right?” I knew she wanted to be reassured - her worry, her need to be told it’s all okay, it was written in her knitted brow and fearful eyes - but I couldn’t do it. She deserves to know the truth.

COVID Anxiety Syndrome…who exactly is deciding what qualifies as an overreaction?

✅ Do they have extensive knowledge of the virus, including transmission mode and current prevalence?

✅ Do they have an intimate understanding of the context of you life & health status? 1/4 ✅ Are they up-to date on the extensive literature that points to multi-system damage as a common occurrence following even mild infection?

✅ Have they pathologized politicized behaviours (like respirator usage) without addressing potential functionality variable utility?
2/4

Every 3-4 months I see a service provider and we have the exact same conversation:

Yes, I’m still masking.

No, I don’t know exactly when I’ll stop - likely when we have a sterilizing vaccine that’s widely available and accessible to the masses. 1/4🧵 No, I don’t think vaccines are causing the influx of cardiac arrests she’s noticed, specifically, in athletes. All available data points to COVID being as result of infection, not vaccination.

Yes, my kids continue to mask consistently. (Shocked silence ensues) 2/4

I honestly believe that much of the seeming lack of care & even some acts of aggression are actually manifestations of mass fear & unprocessed grief.
#COVID19 has changed the world as we know it. Those who acknowledge this remind others who don’t of what is scary and what is sad We remind people of what they could lose and what they have lost already. While powerful forces urge all of us to move on, keep moving, working, spending, pretending, we stubbornly refuse to turn away from a reality that is not all “live, love, laugh!”