I was driving in the car with Gary, with my mask hanging around my neck (because Gary’s finally over his illness), but I suddenly found myself with the mask over my nose again when:
- a Dodge Charger passed us on the right and revved his engine aggressively
- Gary glanced in his blind spot and didn’t notice that the car in front of us was braking hard
- Gary, the car to his left, and the car behind him all ran a red light
It seems if I am frightened I instinctively put the mask on, as if the mask will keep me safe from ALL things, not just the virus. How will I cope with fear after the vaccine is invented? What will comfort me when I drive with Gary? I might have to keep the mask around as a security blanket.
6 responses to “Driving Mask”
Ha!
I do think that’s a good instinct, though, for the duration of the pandemic – putting your mask on when startled increases your chances of having it on if someone, say, walks through your yard and comes close to you while you’re gardening?
But yes. Maybe you can identify another pro-health measure and Pavlov-train yourself into doing that whenever startled, once the pandemic goes away? I’ve got myself trained to drink some water whenever a particular beeper goes off, even if I’m concentrating deeply – the water is just always to my right, my hand finds it and I drink some and put it back without even noticing, most of the time. Hydration is probably less of a problem for you (unless the nausea is still in force), but… oh, I don’t know, chair leg-lift exercises? Deep breathing? Something out there might be both good for you and tie-able to the startle reflex…
(and hey, wearing a mask post-pandemic will probably still be a good idea from the point of view of slightly reducing germs for the immunocompromised! So there’s that, maybe…)
Love this – too funny! I’m not sure I wouldn’t wear it to cover my eyes after the running of the red light, lol.
KC – I wonder if I ever could get to the point that I do leg lifts when Gary almost kills us in the car.
Lisa – And he actually defended himself with “but everyone else did it too.”
Leg lifts might be challenging, on consideration, because usually when one is startled in a car, one braces against all available surfaces. But kegels, maybe?
KC – Oh. please, I could kill a man with my Kegels. Been Kegeling since puberty. Also, I find I can;’ type the word “Kegel” without Kegeling. Interesting.
Hm. Having a hard time thinking of other exercises that one can do while tensed against the frame of a car, but if I think of something, I’ll let you know…