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Where Did All the Smiles Go?
Reading expressions is so hard when the other person is wearing a mask.
Sometimes I wonder what my coworkers’ smiles look like.
Context: for the past month, I’ve been working at a place with a mixture of familiar people and a few new faces. Given our workplace (a college), our state has mandated that we have to wear face masks whenever we’re in the building.
Great! I have no problem with masks! I think it’s great that we’re able to try and protect each other this way.
But on the other hand — there is the mystery of my coworkers’ full faces. Some wear plain disposable masks, likely procured from Amazon or a local pharmacy. Others wear fabric masks that change with their clothing choices of the day. Sometimes I wonder if it would be rude to ask them why they choose the masks they do. (I have fabric masks from Etsy that I love to wear — the patterns give a little glimpse of my personality — but I have to go with disposable masks for my long shifts. The latter just make it much easier to breathe.)
We converse like normal. Sometimes I think they’re smiling from the way their eyes crinkle a bit. Other times, all I can judge of their expressions is through the ways their eyes move while they speak. It’s all very tricky at times, especially since I’m…
