Even from behind our masks, we can still connect
I had just finished putting my groceries on the conveyor belt and reached to pull my cart forward when the man in line behind me asked, “Are you Karina Bland?”
Jerry Tauss introduced himself, a longtime reader of The Republic. He recognized me, even though I was wearing a face mask.
This happens so often that my news director jokes when he sees me, “Hey, are you that lady from the newspaper?”
No matter how many times it happens, it makes me smile, kind of like the thrill of seeing a byline on the front page of the newspaper.
No matter how many years I’ve been at this, and it’s 33 years this month, that never gets old.
It doesn’t always happen at the most opportune moments. Once, I was at the deli counter in the grocery store, and I hadn’t showered or put on makeup, and my hair was a mess.
But a writer needs readers, so I love hearing that people enjoy what I write. I like hearing what columns they liked, which ones they clipped out and sent to siblings or kids. They ask about my son, Sawyer. I ask about their families.
Now that we’re wearing masks in public because of the coronavirus pandemic and only seeing a narrow slice of each other’s faces, I thought it would taper off.
I’d also worried it would be harder to communicate, read emotions, from behind a mask, or that it would feel like a barrier between me and other people.
It wasn’t for the man behind me in line at the grocery store. I couldn’t see much of Jerry’s face, but I could see in his eyes what I think I would have seen in his smile. I hope he could see it in my eyes.
It seems like we’ll be wearing masks for some time to keep us safe from the virus.
But they don’t have to keep us from each other.