If they respond (and they will respond) to the mask on your face by telling you that humanity has survived plagues and pandemics without everyone masking, tell them they are right, but also tell them you are not wearing a mask so that humanity survives but so that you will.

In the moment where you find hope remember: you will lose it again. In the moment where you lose hope remember: you will find it again.

I keep seeing pictures from the Oval Office of the President standing there and ignoring it as a medical emergency happens next to him, but if this ongoing pandemic has taught me anything it’s that most people stand there and ignore it when a medical emergency happens near them.

I sent my aunt, the doctor, an article about how “Cancer rates are climbing among people in their 20s, 30s, and early 40s,” and in response my aunt, the doctor, sent me back several studies about the oncogenic potential of SARS-CoV-2.

I have lost patience with my coworker who wants to know my secret for not getting sick so after her latest round of questions I stated “the main thing I do is always wear a good mask,” and she nodded in reply she slowly nodded and then said: “but I don’t want to wear one.”

My friend keeps sending me pictures of victory celebrations along with the question: “doesn’t this make you feel hopeful?” and though I want to say I’d feel more hopeful if the revelers were masked I don’t want to be a caricature of myself, so instead I just say: yeah.

I know a historian who argues that for many the pandemic began on March 11, 2020 as that was when Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks announced they had Covid, so I asked her if Hanks’s recent comments might convince people the pandemic isn’t over and the historian replied with a sad laugh.

My cousin who works out says he’s getting old routines that used to be easy are now impossible to complete so I sent him an article on how “Exercise intolerance” is “one of the symptoms of long Covid,” and in reply my cousin stated that he’s sure it’s just that he’s getting old.

I used to wonder if people would take this virus seriously again if evidence emerged that it increases the risk of heart attack and stroke, but now that researchers have found just that I find myself wondering what more it will take.

I know, my friend, that you are tired of getting strange looks simply because you are still wearing a mask in this ongoing pandemic, but, my friend, for what it’s worth please just know that Tom Hanks gets those strange looks for masking too.

In an interview Tom Hanks explained his mask wearing by noting “I’ve had Covid enough in my life, I don’t need to do that again,” and he is right, for he knows “life is like a box of chocolates you never know what you’re going to get” so you should try not to keep getting Covid.

If you are wondering what to do now that it seems clear the twelfth wave has ended: know it is the time to get your booster shots and to stock up on supplies (test kits and masks) from the pharmacy, that way you will be ready, ready for when the thirteenth wave begins.

An open note to the reader who asked if I ever worry that the things I write here aren’t reaching people: Yes, I often worry that the things I write here aren’t reaching people but I’ll keep writing as I am far more worried that this virus keeps reaching people.

The old punk told me that over the weekend she saw a really sexy Halloween costume and before I could ask what it was she sent me a picture of a normal person wearing a respirator along with the caption “there’s nothing sexier than a person who gives a shit about other people.”

When I asked about her weekend she replied by asking if I’d noticed that Halloween candy isn’t as good as it used to be: it doesn’t taste like it used to, it doesn’t smell like it used to, and I wanted to tell her she was right something was wrong but not with the candy.

If you should feel that you acquired too many treats on Halloween make sure to brush your teeth. And if you should feel that you acquired something else on Halloween make sure to take a Covid test.

My coworker tells me that he isn’t feeling well but he isn’t too concerned after all, it’s November so it’s cold and flu season, and I’m trying to think of a polite way to remind him that he has been saying that he isn’t feeling well for months now.

Please understand there is a difference between what you wear today and what you truly are, wearing cat ears does not make you a cat, wearing plastic fangs does not make you a vampire, wearing a respirator does not make you a caring person but it is a good step in that direction.

Today when you see crowds of people in scary costumes, remember: those people are not really monsters. Tomorrow when you hear millions have lost vital food assistance, remember: some people really are monsters.

People keep telling me that we are post-pandeimc, but the hoarse voices with which they say this keeps telling me that we are still in the pandemic. * A compendium of the 294th week of plague poems… librarianshipwreck.wordpress.com/2025/10/31/p...

I know that the fun of a subtle Halloween costume is making other people guess what you are dressed as, but as I look around I feel that I’m seeing far too many people dressed up as “someone pretending the pandemic is over,” though I worry these may not be costumes.

It used to be that I loved Halloween because I liked candy and horror movies, because I enjoyed costumes and carving pumpkins, but at this point I find that what I appreciate most about Halloween is that it’s the one day when it’s still normal to wear a mask.

If you are still unsure of what to wear tomorrow, first: ask yourself what you want to be on Halloween, second: remind yourself you don’t want to be sick come November, and so third: assure yourself that a mask compliments any costume.

My friend, the historian, told me the students in one of her seminars have been conspiring to all come to class dressed up as her for Halloween, and when I asked if this was flattery or mockery, she said she absolutely loves it for it means that her students will be masked.

When they ask you why you are still taking precautions show them the research that has found “Covid and Flu Can Triple Your Risk of Heart Attack,” and after they’ve read it ask them why they still aren’t taking precautions.

When I consider my health I find myself thinking that I cannot really afford to get sick again, and when I consider that my health insurance costs are increasing I find myself thinking that I really cannot afford to get sick again.

Fortunately, thanks to a statement we know that the lab monkeys from the truck crash “have not been exposed to any infectious agent.” Unfortunately, thanks to your coworker the one who insists they just have a cold, that statement cannot be made about you.

When I tell him I recently got my booster shots my brother-in-law rolled his eyes and called me delusional so I sent him a document the White House had posted saying the President had received flu and Covid boosters and in response my brother-in-law changed the subject.

My work friend asked what I was planning on wearing for Halloween, so I told him I wasn’t sure about my costume but that I already had a mask picked out, and as he began to ask what kind of mask it was his eyes focused on my masked face, and he said: I see what you did there.

When you hear people say that the headlines about the lab monkeys that escaped from a truck crash makes it seem like we’re at the start of a pandemic movie, calmly and politely remind them that we aren’t at the start of a pandemic movie, but several years into a pandemic reality.

As I walked by a masked man with a leaf-blower paused his machine looked at my mask and inquired: “protecting yourself from folks blowing their leaves?” and though I wanted to say: “protecting myself from folks blowing their noses,” instead I just said: “something like that.”

My coworker (the one who is committed to not getting sick this fall) is still committed to discovering my secret, and today while we talked she looked back and forth from my air filter to my masked face before asking what vitamins I regularly take.

When my coworker asked why I was rubbing my shoulder I said it was sore from a Covid booster, and with a puzzled face he asked: “people are still getting those?” and though I wanted to remind him that he had been out sick with Covid in September, instead I just said: yes.

According to the data infection levels are down suggesting that (at last) the twelfth wave is ending, and while this is certainly cause for celebration after twelve waves you should understand that when a wave ends it’s only a matter of time before the next wave begins.

Lately when I listen to the news it feels as though it’s easy to count four horsemen. And lately when I listen to other people it feels as though it’s easy to count more than four hoarse men.

As the technician placed the bandaid on my arm where I had just received my various booster shots I said: “I imagine you’ve been doing this a lot lately.” But in response he just said, “not really,” and I understood why the shelves in the cold/flu aisle were so empty.

I called the pharmacy to schedule booster shots but the pharmacist just said “drop by whenever,” and when I said, “I thought you’d be fully booked,” the pharmacist laughed and quietly said, “you’d like to think that,” and she’s right that is what I’d like to think.

At the pandemic’s start we anxiously confirmed that we had contracted the virus. As the pandemic continued we frustratedly confirmed that we had contracted the virus again. And as the pandemic drags on we are confused why we keep getting sick for some reason.

I passed my neighbor as she was tending her yard and when I asked if she had any advice she said: “you are responsible for tending your garden in every season,” and when I asked if she had any other advice she said: “and don’t forget that this whole world is your garden.”

He tells me he’s stopped paying attention to the news about the virus, there’s so much information, so many worrying details, and when he reads it all he feels there’s nothing there’s nothing he can really do, so I handed him a mask and said: here’s something you can do.

There are times when I see headlines about the state of it all and I think to myself: this is a sick society. And there are times when I see headlines about the state of the pandemic and I remind myself: this is a sick society. * Week 293… librarianshipwreck.wordpress.com/2025/10/24/p...

People keep telling me that we are post-pandemic, but the hoarse voices with which they say this keeps telling me that we are still in the pandemic.

My colleague was unwell so I asked if she had tested, but she just rolled her eyes and told me “not every cold is Covid,” but a few hours later I saw her preparing to leave early, and when I asked if she was alright she told me: “sometimes it turns out the cold is Covid.”

Near the pharmacy checkout were posters showing tissues and honey showing cough drops and tea along with the words “your fall wellness ritual,” and while it’s always good to have tea with honey what you really need in your fall wellness ritual is a good quality mask.

My cousin, who is trying to have a baby says she is making changes: she’s giving up caffeine and alcohol, she’s giving up sushi or aspirin, but she said “no” when I asked if she would start wearing a mask again for it unfortunately seems she isn’t giving up catching Covid.

As we waited in line the man next to me said he didn’t really follow the news as he found doing so “was bad for my mental health,” but the sight of my mask compelled him to ask if there was something he needed to know and so I replied: “this virus is bad for your mental health.”

My work friend says she thinks people read fantasy books and watch medieval shows because they think we are heading back to the dark ages, and while I’m not sure we’re heading to the dark ages between the literal plague and the metaphorical plague we’re certainly in dark times.

After a while, I had stopped trying to convince him to wear a mask the articles I had sent the things I had said none had made a difference, and yet there he was in a mask, so I asked what had finally convinced him and in a tired voice he said: “I just can’t keep catching this.”

At times I think I catastrophize too much, my tendency to look for proof of the bad too often distracts me from evidence of the good, but then I will see a headline like: “Mosquitoes found in Iceland for first time,” and such times makes me think I do not catastrophize enough.

I recently read an article the headline of which noted: “Post-pandemic COVID-19 linked with high numbers of workforce absences and exits,” and though I know the headline begins with “post-pandemic” it seems to me that the rest of the headline shows we are still in the pandemic.