Last week, I walked around my neighborhood looking to photograph other people who were still working amid the pandemic. I spotted a U.S. Postal Service carrier almost half a block away and waved to get her attention. I smiled, but she probably couldn’t see it behind the face mask I was wearing. It was a surgical mask, which was sent from my roommate’s mother in the Philippines.
As a visual journalist, I don’t have the luxury of always working from home. My editor was adamant that I wear a mask in the field, and I knew it was my responsibility to minimize the risk of unknowingly transmitting the disease to others in case I was an asymptomatic carrier. While working on assignment over two weeks ago without a mask, I realized that even though I try my best to maintain six feet between myself and the person I’m talking to, old habits die hard; many people still naturally gravitate towards me. In uncertain times like this, it’s good to have that extra layer of protection for them and for myself. The best way to flatten the curve is to behave like you’re sick.
“It’s a little freaky still,” said Charlie Grant, who isn’t Asian American. He replied via direct message to a question I asked about wearing masks on Twitter. “It’s not something I’m used to seeing out in public, so it’s taken some adjustment. I think they are probably doing the right thing by protecting themselves and others by wearing one.”
“No one will really pay extra attention to you [if you are wearing a mask] because it is very common in China,” said Shi. “We don’t have a concept that, you know, anyone wearing a mask is sick.”
