Mask Pretty

I have noticed an interesting phenomenon with our new normal. For those of you who have stubbornly refused to wear a mask once during the last two years of Covid restrictions, you might have missed out something that began to notice at least one year into things. So, your loss...and maybe my gain?

I first noticed this at work. In my classes, we moved from teaching students online to slowly turning back to our regular sessions at the college. At home, the students did not have to wear a mask (it would have seemed ridiculous to make such a demand on them in their own private space; the ones with children and elderly parents made their own arrangements). It was when we returned to school that masked students began to appear in my field of vision, and I accepted that this was how we would all stay safe and healthy.

But I could not but help notice something rather intriguing...

In one early-morning class, students would often bring in their breakfasts or buy something at the last minute from the nearby cafeteria to eat during breaks or before our lessons began. One day, a student brought in a croissant and a cup of coffee to enjoy on her own. Now, this was a student who did not often eat or drink during the lessons, so I was not fully prepared for the change.

I really wasn't...

Now, I know that I am approaching this as a typical male dealing with typical students in a rather atypical school. I should not be judging my students on their looks or personal habits.

But I could not escape what I saw and felt.

She turned into a completely different person once she slipped the mask down her face and began to enjoy her coffee and croissant. She was a completely different person. It was almost like dealing with a completely different student. And for a brief moment, I almost did not know who she was.

I do wonder if there are some articles and reports on how we are beginning - or perhaps ending - the way that we see each other in our society. I am not an expert on perception or aesthetics. I can only report on how it has affected my working life.

One thing that must come into play now is the importance of eye communication. If they are the windows into the soul, they also reveal what is happening deeper inside the home. With the students and staff masked liked this, we have to read each other much faster than we have ever done before. And this might be a skill that we should not forget.

And that, of course, this also makes me think of the ones who refuse to wear a mask inside or outside any particular home - yes, even in Canada, we have had many who have not decided to consider the health of anyone, even themselves (check the recent news on the truck convoy in Ottawa). Did they lose something by not masking up?

We'll see...

Oh, and I note now that I am revealing my own biases about gender and beauty. Should a teacher, even one who is single and dealing with students who have tried over the years to set me up with cousins, sisters, and several dates, be judging anyone based on what I see?

Let's be fair about this: we are a visual culture (more so now with all these screens on all these different types of technology). We are forced to see the surface before we can ever have a chance to go below the skin, if we even get that far. I have done the Zoom thing where students have often shut off their cameras and sound because of their concerns about privacy. And I understood that. I would have done so myself if our school policy allowed it. But now that I am back in front of real people who are not digitally processed and projected on my screen, I am back to my old ways.

As I have said, there should be some sort of group study about this. McGill University, my old alma mater, did recently publish a recent study about the end results of our masked lives, and the numbers are pretty depressing. Communication skills are damaged when mouths are covered (no mention if noses, facial hair and dimples also play a role).

This I can understand. If we are people who are visual more than cerebral when we do communicate, I am going to have to work even harder as a teacher and a man to understand what my students are all about and what they want me to know. I will also have to be very careful not to misread the subtle glances and looks I have noted on the buses and subway at certain times. There could be more there than I imagined...or less.

We are all learning.

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You can find more poems, stories, and articles by Kendall Defoe on my Vocal profile. I complain, argue, provoke and create...just like everybody else.

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