Items

• 
  2021-11-21

  A Weekend In Vegas

  This was November 2021, a time when the coronavirus was still very much an everyday threat to human lives, but also when some sense of peace and ease had returned to travel. The mask was commonplace, only to be withdrawn to take a photo or to eat, and in many cases to make a fashion statement (i.e., stocking several of different colors and varieties to match any outfit).
• 
  2022-07-09

  A New World: How Covid-19 affected my anniversary trip.

  Originally, I always had the idea of taking my wife on a Mediterranean cruise for our 10 year wedding anniversary. However, it seemed as if Covid-19 would make those plans impossible to carry out. Thankfully, vaccines became available, and the Mediterranean countries would begin to open up to tourism again with some restrictions. On July 2022, we flew out to Rome, Italy to spend a few days there before the cruise itself. Even going through the airport was an entirely different experience, since this was our first time seriously dealing with the restricted rules(we had previously isolated ourselves for over a year and did everything online). We had to wear masks everywhere in the airport, our tram was partitioned into sections by barriers, and airplane boarding took longer since the boarding groups were made significantly smaller. When we arrived in Rome, we still had to wear masks inside of buildings(which was consistent with our experience all throughout Europe) and transportation(some buses enforced it, some didn't). In addition, as we visited restaurants, shops, and tourist locations, there were only a limited amount of people allowed in each location since there was a priority in having space between different groups. The restrictions continued as we embarked on our cruise a few days after. If you were vaccinated(as we were), you only had to take one antigen rapid test before you entered the ship to make sure that you did not have Covid-19. If you were not vaccinated, you had to take two tests, one a few days before you entered the ship, and one on the day of embarkation. This was unique, as a lot of other cruise brands were not letting anyone who was unvaccinated aboard their ships. When we boarded the boat, each group was given their own table and their own serving team(with masks on). This was possible because the allowed capacity that was on the boat was severely reduced. This allowed for us to have a more intimate experience with the serving staff, which was still at a relatively high capacity as compared to the population of the customers. As it comes to the picture itself, it is very important because we were only allowed to take off our masks for pictures inside of buildings. In addition, that picture was inside of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, which is a place that I have always wanted to enter due to its Christian symbolism. The walls and the statues tell the story of Christianity that has spanned over thousands of years.
• 2022-06-01

  Covid Europe

  My family and I really like to travel, like a lot. We usually do a big vacation every year, and Covid-19 really threw a wrench in our annual plans (as it did to every single person alive). March of 2020, my family and I had traveled to Washington D.C. When we got back home to Utah, not even 24 hours later, Washington D.C. had shut down entirely. We felt lucky we got to go, but hopeful this shut down would only be two weeks. Fast forward two years, and we (again, like the rest of the world) were unable to go anywhere. My sister and I had gotten Covid-19 in November of 2020, and then the vaccines started to roll out. We had heard that if you were fully vaccinated, places were starting to slowly open for those individuals. We thought since we already had Covid-19, why not get vaccinated so we could travel? So, my mom, myself, and my sister all got vaccinated. Solely to travel. We are by no means 'anti-vaccination' people, actually quite the opposite. But we did have the normal hesitations of getting this vaccine just to such little prior research. Regardless, we got the vaccine. We started looking at places where we could go, from cruises to domestic travel to international. And then, the booster comes out. The rules are now that you have to have all three shots. And then, I get Covid-19 again in November of 2021, after having been fully vaccinated. Finally, we start to plan a Europe trip for the summer of 2022. Every plane, train, and automobile that would take us to and around Europe required a valid Covid-19 vaccination card. There were so many Covid-19 tests we had to take prior to departure from the US, then when we got to Europe, and then when we were getting ready to return home to the US. We had to fill out numerous forms verifying that we were not sick and had not been sick in the previous 14 days. While we were in Europe, the mask mandate had lifted for everywhere but Austria, but we didn't know that. We went to board an Austrian airlines flight without a mask, and we were then told we could not fly without a mask. We had to beg the flight attendant to give us one, as we didn't know (they were not nice about it). Keeping up with everyone's different rules and regulations and testing and forms definitely made our trip more difficult than it would be now.
• 
  2022-06-20

  Mask in Germany

  I found this mask on the ground outside of a subway in Germany. At the time, masks were still mandatory on transportation, which was surprising since most of the world didn’t make masks mandatory. They even had someone walking around to either give people masks or to remind them of the mask mandate.
• 
  2023-06-20

  Finally got COVID

  I finally got sick with COVID after 3 years. I went on a cruise to celebrate my fiancé’s graduation and had to remove my mask when the heat was so bad in Mexico, Belize, and Honduras. I’m mostly worried about getting my fiancé sick who is disabled, but hopefully we don’t live together just yet. I’m currently being isolated in my parents house watching people stream on Twitch.TV and playing Animal Crossing. I had a fever of 101 yesterday, and hopefully am able to return to work on Friday which means I’ll be able to represent my work at Hampton Roads Pride on Saturday. Since it’s pride month, me getting COVID feels very homophobic
• 
  2023-04-29

  Post COVID in El Salvador

  I recently went on a trip with my dad to his home of El Salvador. I wasn’t too surprised that most COVID restrictions had been lifted three years later. I was more surprised that some people were still wearing masks. I leaned that people who work hospitality are still required (or strongly suggested) to still wear masks. There are hardly any remnants left from all the COVID mandates but I found these signs at one of the restaurants we went to reminding people to social distance. It’s interesting to see people now still wearing masks and sanitizing their hands in excess. I wonder if this is the “new norm” we were all talking about two years ago.
• 
  2023-05-15

  Unique Patterns of Behaviors Observed from Endless Masking in Japan in this "Post-Pandemic"

  Although the world is approaching the post-pandemic, many people are still wearing masks in Japan. It can be attributed to unique conformity to others who still wear a mask and the establishment of masking as a habit after 3 years of masking.
• 
  2023-03-30

  Dancing In The Face Of Uncertainty

  My family and I were shown immense grace as the world endured the heart wrenching sorrow of the COVID-19 pandemic. May those whose lives were stolen by the coronavirus live forever in memory, and rest in eternal peace. At the onset of my second Freshman semester, the chatter among friends included ignorant musings such as: "what would happen if we got it?”, and my favorite, “the virus would NEVER come to the island.” Before Costco lines evoked Walmart on Black Friday, and up-to-the-minute death tolls became the linchpin of our media diet, the Bayonne Bridge signified a seemingly impenetrable chasm safeguarding Staten Island from a quarantined cruise ship in February 2020; because obviously airborne particles don’t pay tolls, right? A strange sense of wonder and excitement overtook the CSI campus on March 11, 2020: the day Gov. Cuomo announced CUNY & SUNY schools would “pause” in-person instruction. I'll never forget hearing the announcement on radio before walking to class for the last time until September 20, 2021. As I drove down Loop Road, a group of students (presumably upperclassman) cheered while blasting music on the Great Lawn. If those students truly were upperclassman, their dancing in the face of uncertainty would spite the commencement celebration they would never receive. I suspect a webpage and some pre-recorded speeches is an inutile stand-in for sitting among thousands of graduates on that very lawn. In tandem with devastation, panic, and uncertainty, the pandemic thrust society into a hard reset. So much of life is spent planning, yearning, and working towards the future - all of which are meaningless novelties to a hellacious virus. To survive the pandemic, besides evading COVID by way of masks, social distancing, and grace from above, each of us had to sift the remnants of our livelihoods to make out what our “new” present would look like. I thrived through the pandemic with music blasting, self-reflection, and a sense of liberation. Family bonds grew stronger, passion projects were completed, and for the first time in a decade, my life felt tranquil. I am repulsed by the fact that while millions took their final breath, businesses shuttered for good, and anxiety tormented the world, I found inner peace reminiscent of my childhood summers. Eerily, I vividly recall sitting in the basement of 2N during a 8am Geology class wishing for, “all this crap to end”, and lamenting, “why didn’t I go to SNHU or some college online?” I guess someone got their wish, and dragged humanity down with him. My father was the only non-essential worker in the house; he didn’t get that fancy paper from the state which supposedly let you free if cops pulled you over. We spent the first full day of lockdown scouring local stores for the coveted (and effective) N95 masks. At a time when the CDC told people to not wear masks so medical professionals had supplies, we were on a mission to guarantee we had protection for the long haul. My family recognized that the “pause” would not be a 1 to 2 month patty cake. My father was adamant his Window Cleaning & Power Washing business would collapse from the indefinite closures of his commercial clients. Our first purchase was the last 3-pack of Milwaukee N95s with those gaudy exterior respirators from homespun Garber’s Hardware. The ever-jovial gentlemen behind the counter adamantly said something to the effect of, “we’re gonna be here ’till they tell us to shut them doors.” 3 masks wouldn’t cut it, so we continued down the way to ye olde Sherwin Williams; where the employee had no suspicion we needed a 20-count box of 3M's finest for anything other than some recreational spray painting. Mask wearing wasn’t en vogue just yet. Those masks were needed when my Uncle could not get out of bed at 1:30pm the following Saturday. He worked the night prior, Friday the 13th, at his second job as a bouncer in Manhattan. On Saturdays he would saunter out of bed by 10:45 the latest; but here he was: frozen in bed, voice hoarse, and coughing like a smoker. I threw on the 95 and nitrile gloves just to speak to him from the hallway. That day was also the first time I ventured out in full biohazard regalia. I still remember the condescending scowls at my neighborhood’s second rate deli counter. The treatment advice the CDC hotline provided was to load up on Extra Strength Tylenol and guzzle water like there was no tomorrow. Thankfully my Uncle did see tomorrow and recovered in about 5 days. While my Dad and I kept our distance as my mother tended to the patient, we realized there must be a fruitful pastime besides burying our eyes in CNN coverage all day. My father, perpetually seeking the next project, came to the realization that, in plain english: we needed a pool table. When I was 6 years old, my father built a pool table out of wood when he was working for a contracting firm that operated in what is now Brooklyn’s Industry City. At 9 feet It conveniently sat atop our giant dinning room table. It was a gorgeous deep blue with every authentic accoutrement short of nicotine-reeking cloth. The table lasted about 8 months until my mom wanted her dining room back, fair enough. For a long time that table felt like a fever dream. After the it departure it was seldom mentioned; the balls and commemorative Coca-Cola cuestick sat dormant in the far reaches of our old home. The biggest hurdle to this project was space. The only feasible location was the unfurnished room in the back of our basement. The room experienced iterations as a screen-print emulsion lab, woodshop, actual chocolate factory, punching bag area, and video recording studio. After countless YouTube tutorials, including a Filipino gentleman building an unleveled table where all balls rolled to one side, we ventured to Lowe’s “Indoor Lumber Yard” to rekindle the magic of 2007. We sourced only the finest un-warped 2x4s and the purest synthetic wood crafted by the hands of man: Unfinished MDF Board. The 97 inch composite wouldn't fit down the basement stairwell, so we asked the one employee not running from us to cut it down the middle. Our makeshift table now presented two unique considerations: first, the board had to be precisely glued back together, and second, did you know commercial lumber dimensions are several inches off the actual product size? And in case you were not aware, “real” pool tables are made of slate. Breaking ground on March 19th, we used our decommissioned 20-year-old kitchen table as legs for our new creation. The board’s overhang allowed pockets to sit freely (no ball return system needed). On the days I had online class, my father intended to go downstairs “for about an hour” in the morning, before getting stuck in a jam by lunch, and working until dinner. I would assist in between classes, and when I was free, we’d get caught up in the room for hours on end. With Music Choice and MTV Classic the soundtrack of our toil, my Dad and I measured “tournament standard” dimensions - only to be slightly off, argued about what the heck a 142 degree cut really is, and savored the aromatics of wood glue and contact cement. The room was coated in sawdust, with scrap wood scattered neatly about. I was finally involved in my dad’s carpentry prowess after years of staring at his convoluted tools. Have you heard a Mitter saw in action? The grinding of the spiraling blades drown your ears with the screams of a motorcycle whizzing through a tunnel. I’d wince in fear that the time would come when the blade’s “SHING” would be followed by an agonized scream. My dad made mention of how woodshop teachers were always missing an appendage. He even shared horror stories like the time the blade guard failed to engage on a circular saw, skid free, peeled the side of his boot, cut through floor tiles, and sputtered wildly until it sliced the power cord. When I did schoolwork upstairs while listening to SiriusXM (another pandemic coping tool) I regularly heard my dad belt obscenities en español louder than both of our blaring radios. The table was declared playable at 8pm on Monday March 30th. I know this because the music on tv tuned to a channel recording CRADLE 2 THE GRAVE (I DVR’d many movies during lockdown). The table is not 100% complete, and has some quirks which challenge you to be a better player. We practiced and played on that table at least an hour a day everyday until in-person classes began to cloud my schedule. Under lockdown, my family spent days and nights hanging out in the backyard, barbecuing and laughing loudly, before we capped the night with rounds of pool. In homage to the California Spring Break shelved by the obvious, I burned a best of California Hip-Hop Mix CD to play on our old stereo that found new life in the pool room. As New York overcame the epicenter phase, the laid back qualities of spring carried into the summer and fall. Everyday felt like a celebration of life. People were out in parks and open spaces, roads were traffic free, and in my case, I was able to hold the people I love closer. I wish everyone could have experienced the “new normal” as I did - with their own sense of peace. Don’t get me wrong, I have loved ones who no longer walk this earth because of the pandemic, and myself and my entire family experienced onset and lingering side effects from both the vaccine and the coronavirus. I do not think I would have survived contracting COVID as I did in May 2022 if I was not vaccinated. I look back at my lockdown experience so fondly because I choose to focus on the joyous moments in the midst of global tragedy. Perspective is key. Perhaps I was forsaken the “true college experience”. I know for sure I was afraid of COVID. I only stoped wearing my N95s after having them for 12 hours straight while coughing phlegm from the virus. I feel a sense of sorrow and shame when people tell me the lockdown screwed them mentally; regardless of whether or not they lost someone. But what did I get out of the pandemic? A furnished room, an unbroken streak of Straight A’s, an endless summer with those close to me - and at what cost? I’m still the same shoddy pool player after three years of practice. What the lockdown gave me, more than anything, was the one thing that is unequivocally fleeting in this life: time. Maybe in hindsight, those revelers on the Great Lawn had the right idea.
• 
  2020-07-27

  Patience and Fortitude

  The New York Public Library’s website explains, “During the 1930s, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia named [the library lions] Patience and Fortitude for the qualities New Yorkers would need to survive the economic depression.” I remembered this fact and connected immediately with it the first time I saw Patience and Fortitude wearing their masks in solidarity with the New Yorkers they have watched over for more than a century. It struck me that we would need those virtues to make it through COVID-19 as well. “Those lion statues have seen New York struggle through and overcome many hardships from the 1917 Flu to the Great Depression to September 11th,” I thought. Things were grim in New York in 2020. We were the first to experience the horror that would eventually engulf the whole country. The infection rate was high, hospitals were full, people were dying. It was easy to despair. The masked lions were a powerful symbol of the resolve and resilience of New Yorkers and a reminder that this turmoil, too, would pass into history and the city - like the lions - would remain standing.
• 
  April 20, 2020

  Blood Donation

  I donated blood today. They've had a shortage of donors, so I decided to do it. Pretty simple process, and I got to talk to people in real life and they gave me snacks after. It was actually fun. My mom made me the mask.
• 
  April 8, 2020

  COVID Litter

  What you will find as you take a walk down any block, street, avenue, or boulevard on Staten Island.
• 
  April 8, 2020

  Public Health Measures on Staten Island

  Social distancing, face masks, empty shelves and restrictions throughout Staten Island.
• 
  April 10, 2020

  2020 Grocery Store Fashion

  “This morning’s grocery store fashion,” I wrote on April 10, 2020 when I posted this photo to Instagram. I tagged #socialdistancing #maskedcrusader and #newyorktough. This was the first time I wore a mask when I left the house and it was one of only a few times I’d gone farther than my backyard or front stoop since lockdown began the month prior. I had been listening to public health officials who advised wearing “face coverings” to help “flatten the curve” (reduce the number of new infections to prevent overcrowding in hospitals). I also followed their advice to opt for cloth and save the real masks for health care workers on the “front lines” of the pandemic who were facing a shortage of “PPE - personal protective equipment.” So many new words and phrases had entered the lexicon and I was struggling to keep up. Masking felt like a way I could protect myself and family and contribute to the effort to squash Covid-19. I found a video tutorial for how to make a “no sew” mask using a bandana folded over hair ties for ear loops. I added a coffee filter in the middle of the folds for good measure. I used this type of mask into the summer of 2020 when I realized masks weren’t going away anytime soon and started wearing more fitted cloth versions. I remember masking felt strange and changed the way I interacted with people I passed who couldn’t see my customary polite smile of acknowledgment. I started nodding slightly and learned to squint my eyes to indicate a smile when I passed people to make up for this impediment. Masking made it difficult to be heard and understood especially through other precautionary barriers like plexiglass shields at checkout counters. These days when I encounter people I first met when masking was more widespread, I sometimes don’t recognize them because I’ve never seen the bottom half of their face. It’s a bizarre set of circumstances. Now I usually only mask if I have respiratory symptoms or if I am around someone particularly vulnerable to COVID-19. When I do mask, I choose an N-95 respirator which is readily available and more effective than my cloth mask and coffee filter creation of April 2020.
• 
  2020-03-26

  The Sound of Sewing

  I moved back in with my parents right before lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic never imagining how long it would go on for. Since my mother is a teacher she was at home with my younger sister and me during the entire lockdown. My father still went to work because he works for a city and was part of the emergency response to the pandemic. I remember going to the grocery store with my sister and seeing the empty shelves unsure of when they would be restocked. I remember the panic of needing face masks and not being able to find any. That is when my mother decided she would make face masks for us, our extended family and to donate. She pulled out the sewing machine, which originally was for when my grandmother would come visit, and set it on the dining table. My grandmother used to sew all the time when she would visit us and make my sister and I dresses and even matching dresses for our dolls. It was always a sound I had associated with her. I helped my mother in ordering and looking up information on which materials were recommended by health officials, then she set to work, making hundreds of face masks. Every morning I would wake up to the sound of the sewing machine and my first thought would be of my grandmother. As time went on I associated the sound with the pandemic, more specifically lockdown. My mother enjoys doing different craft projects and she really enjoyed making the face masks. It was a fun activity that I also enjoyed helping her with. She made face masks for my dad’s work which were donated to the fire and police departments. We also mailed masks to our extended family in New Mexico, California, and Mexico. We wore the masks ourselves if we had to go anywhere during lockdown. The sound of the sewing machine became a regular occurrence during those early weeks of quarantine. The sewing machine, especially the sound, used to only represent my grandmother making gifts for us. In Mexico, where my grandmother still lives, she used to have a small business making and selling clothing as a way to earn extra much needed money. It wasn’t just a hobby at that time, but a necessity for her and her family. The sound of the sewing machine, became something I not only associated of my grandmother but of the beginning of quarantine and the importance of knowing certain basic skills. Knowing how to sew, and even being able to use a sewing machine, may seem like an unimportant skill nowadays, which was something I used to think. However, that skill helped my grandmother and decades later is still helping the rest of our family.
• 
  2021-12-20

  And a Happy New Year

  My boyfriend and I had visited his parents over our Christmas Holiday from college. They had just recently gotten back from Hawaii, so they had travelled through several airports to get to and from Baton Rouge. Despite my boyfriend and I being vaccinated and wearing masks around his family, we came to find out that his mother had COVID (she is a staunch anti-vaxxer). Not one week after our visit, my boyfriend and I both tested positive. We spent Christmas and New Years holed up in our tiny apartment, feeling guilty that we had been to our respective works and to visit my relatives without knowing we were positive. His mother is still suffering from COVID complications, nearly eight months after originally having it. I'll never understand why people assume that public health and health education are a hoax. It could have saved everyone a lot of time and effort and suffering if the truth about vaccinations wasn't barraged by misinformation and public hysteria.
• 
  2022-07-06

  U.S. Yellowstone is latest national park to add indoor mask mandate due to rising COVID cases

  This is a news story from CBS News from Sophie Reardon. Due to rising cases, Yellowstone National Park will now require visitors two years and older to wear masks indoors. Other national parks have mask mandates too, such as the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, and the Grand Tetons. This requirement is for everyone using an indoor facility, regardless of vaccination status. For future visitors at this time to these parks, it is recommended one look up COVID requirements for the place they wish to go.
• 
  2022-07-05

  Broadway begins mask-optional policy

  This is a news story from Spectrum News 1 by Louis Finley. On July 1, a mask optional policy began for Broadway show attendees. This has worried theatergoers and performers alike, as they are now anxious over being exposed to COVID. Some shows, like "Into the Woods," have been negotiating to make masks mandatory for the front row.
• 
  2022-07-08

  Box Office: How ‘Minions 2’ Brings The Covid Era To An Optimistic Close

  This is a news story from Forbes by Scott Mendelson. This is an article that discusses the moviegoing habits of people pre and post-COVID. The article mentions that Minions: The Rise of Gru and Top Gun: Maverick were meant to come out in 2020, but they were delayed because of COVID. Due to the high amounts of attendance to both films, the author is speculating that audience members that may have forgone streaming new movies are coming back to theaters. The box office gross for both films has broken records. Given my own experience of going to the movies recently since COVID began, I noticed that even though I did see signs about masks, it was never enforced, and restrictions were pretty much non-existent. I delayed going to the theaters in-person partly due to not finding many new releases interesting enough, in addition to not wanting to deal with masks while watching. I think that less restrictions make the experience more appealing now than during COVID, as movie tickets have been getting more expensive over the years. In can be hard to justify the steep prices with the restrictions in place that could make it less comfortable. My own experience that I had made it feel like it was the pre-COVID era, and that made it something I enjoyed. I think that given the snacks people eat at theaters, it would have been cumbersome to have to take the mask off and put it on again with eating. If I had to do that, I probably would not have wanted to get any snacks with those restrictions in place, and theaters generally make more revenue from refreshments than they do showing the movie itself. I think that the author is right that the high gross of both films mean that the "summer movie" is returning to what it once was, with audiences that may have been lost during COVID coming back.
• 
  2022-07-05

  Masks optional for fully-vaccinated customers

  This is a sign I found outside a shoe store at Arizona Mills Mall. It says that masks are optional for fully-vaccinated customers. I didn't go in the store, so I don't know if they would check for vaccination status or not. From my experience with other places with similar signs, no employee has asked about my vaccination status before shopping. I could see this being enforced a year ago, but not now.
• 
  2022-07-05

  COVID related sign outside IMAX movie theater

  This is a sign I saw at the Arizona Mills Mall in Tempe, Arizona. The sign recommends you wear a mask, keep a distance, and not come if you are feeling sick. This sign was not enforced when watching a movie at the IMAX the day I went. Not even the workers were wearing masks. This could just be something leftover from a time when this would have been more relevant, such as in 2020 and 2021. The time I took this picture was actually my first time going to a movie theater since COVID started. The last movie I saw in theaters before the Minion movie was Cats in February of 2020. It was a fun thing to experience again after a long hiatus. I wanted to go at a time when there wouldn't be any restrictions, as it would make the experience less fun. I remember having to wear a mask on a plane when I went for a wedding, and I didn't enjoy having to do that. It would have felt similar had I gone to a movie a year ago when vaccines weren't as distributed as they are now.
• 
  2022-07-08

  NYC officials recommend masks indoors due to COVID surge

  This is a news story from Axios by Herb Scribner. Due to a rise in COVID cases, health officials in New York City are recommending that people wear high quality face masks indoors or in crowded areas. A CBS News report says that COVID positivity rates have risen 14%, the highest level since January. A subvariant of Omnicron, BA.5, has been responsible for 54% of total COVID cases, according to the CDC.
• 
  2022-07-02

  Taking Care of My Grandma During COVID

  This is a story of taking care of my grandma during COVID. A lot of the time I was employed as a caretaker for my grandma overlapped with the height of COVID.
• 
  2022-06-27

  Sign inside Macy's about germ spread

  This was a sign I found at Macy's while at Scottsdale Fashion Square. This sign tells people to cover their mouth and nose while sneezing, use social distancing, and to avoid things like shaking hands. However, the time I went to Macy's did not have many restrictions in place. Some customers chose to wear masks, but at the point in time I went, it was not high alert.
• 
  2022-06-26

  Remember when it wasn't "your body, your choice"?

  This is an Instagram post from dontfollowpatrick. This is a meme posted regarding bodily autonomy. For pandemic skeptics, "my body, my choice" has been common rhetoric with things like masks and vaccines. Dissenters claim that it is not a valid argument because the actions of one person in a public health crisis affect other people around them. With things like abortion, it is seen as an individual decision that does not affect others the way not wearing a mask would.
• 
  2022-06-26

  Custom face masks

  This is an Instagram post from createandimpressla. This company is offering customizable masks, where you can submit and image you like and have it be made into a mask. The picture attached shows just some ways people have customized masks.
• 
  2022-06-25

  The choice is yours

  This is an Instagram post from haironflorida. The post says that the staff will continue wearing masks, but people are given the option of not wearing mask if they wish.
• 
  2022-06-23

  Smiles on and masks off

  This is an Instagram post from physicianendocrinologist. This is about a changing mask policy at the endocrinologist office that posted this. It encourages people that are immunocompromised to wear masks though.
• 
  2022-06-26

  Memories

  This is an Instagram post from janelhickox. It is about a COVID wedding, and part of the wedding included masks with the couple's date.
• 
  2022-06-25

  To mask or not to mask

  This is an Instagram post from sandawanaspa about masking. The company is saying that you no longer need a face mask as a requirement for their services.
• 
  2022-06-24

  1.6 billion face masks entered our oceans in 2020

  This is an Instagram post from birdlife_sa. It discusses the amount of face masks that ended up in the ocean, and what you can do to make your mask disposal more environmentally friendly.
• 
  2022-06-24

  The whole mask thing 2.5 years later

  This is an Instagram post from adrianmiller. Here, she is recounting changes that have happened within the last 2.5 years of COVID. These changes include not making small talk or checking for people's facial expressions.
• 2022-06-24

  Correctly dispose of masks

  This is an Instagram post from ecowhizz_sa. This is a post advising people to dispose of their masks properly to protect the environment.
• 
  2022-06-25

  Church and COVID

  This is a tweet from ChurchAndCovid. This account is trying to help people out in finding ways for people to protect themselves during worship services. The account recommends that instead of providing cloth or surgical masks, it would be more effective to have N95 and KN95 masks instead. Some churches have taken different approaches to COVID, and as we can see here, some churches practice more precaution than others.
• 
  2022-06-25

  COVID deaths and abortion numbers

  This is a tweet from eevee. This person is saying that those who refuse to wear masks are helping create as many COVID deaths as there are abortions per year. It is meant to point out the hypocrisy of people claiming "life is sacred" while being flagrant about wearing masks, which they argue is not pro-life.
• 
  2022-06-25

  Everyone can get long COVID

  This is a tweet from myrabatchelder. This person is advising other about the risks of long COVID, saying people should wear masks in indoor and crowded settings.
• 
  2022-06-25

  I FINALLY got my second Pfizer covid booster shot!

  This is a tweet from bobbicallie. This person is announcing the joy they have in receiving their second COVID booster shot. They are also worried about long COVID, so despite getting the vaccine booster shots, this person has decided to continue wearing a mask.
• 
  2022-06-25

  Respecting bodily autonomy

  This is a tweet from metraux_julia. She is discussing the importance of wearing a mask for those that could be at high risk. For disabled people, they often face higher chances of getting COVID, in addition to having more complications with it. This is an advisement specifically for attending protests.
• 
  2022-05-03

  COVID protocol and abortion

  This is a tweet from CJ_isnowblue regarding the leaked opinion from the Supreme Court on abortion. She is criticizing the way Republicans have protested for their rights to bodily autonomy on things such as mask mandates and vaccines, while wanting to restrict the bodily rights women have. Throughout the pandemic, the abortion debate has come up a time or two due to the "my body, my choice" rhetoric being used by those against masks and vaccines. Prior to this, it was mainly used for discussions on abortion, but now the two subjects are getting linked in public discourse.
• 
  2022-05-02

  You can't co-opt "my body, my choice"

  This is a tweet from Anna Akana regarding the leaked opinion draft from the Supreme Court, which would overturn Roe v. Wade. Here, she is criticizing people who use "my body, my choice" in regards to masks, but don't allow it for when it comes to women's reproductive health.
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  2022-06-22

  Face mask sign at Feed My Starving Children in Arizona

  This was a sign I saw on June 22, 2022 while volunteering at Feed My Starving Children. Upon entering, I was worried that I would need a mask in order to participate. It turns out, masks were not mandatory. Some people that did come at the session I did were wearing masks, but a good majority of people were not. One of the coordinators said that now they are able to host up to 125 people at a time for a session. At the very beginning when things were just opening up again, that number was at 10. The coordinator said that if things go to plan, FMSC should be able to host 145 people at a time, increasing the amount of pallets that can be shipped across the world to help children in need
• 
  2022-02

  Wear a Mask: Fa'aaoga Puni Fofoga

  With the rise of covid cases in American Samoa at the beginning of this year in February, the Department of American Samoa Health Department partnered up with the American Samoa government to make sure that the people of American Samoa are well aware of what to do to combat COVID. It is one of the many flyers and ads released by the ASDOH for the public of American Samoa. They are released in both the English and Samoan languages. This flyer is for people to wear a mask and in the Samoan language, fa'aaoga puni fofoga.
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  2022-05-21

  I wear a mask in public for three reasons

  This is an Instagram post by spacegrd. This is an infographic on why someone would choose to wear a mask. The three reasons are: humility, kindness, and community.
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  2022-05-22

  Proud to play our part

  This is an Instagram post by reddingrancheria. This is an advertisement for wearing a mask to protect the elderly. Seeing as elderly are more at risk for dying of COVID, I can understand why elderly would wear masks more often themselves, in addition to their caretakers wearing masks frequently.
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  2022-05-22

  Republican logic

  This is an Instagram post from feministhood. It is making the comparison between the rhetoric Republicans have had regarding COVID versus abortion. The person writing this says thinks that it is rather contradictory. The contradiction comes from thinking that "my body, my choice" applies to masks and vaccines, but should not apply to abortion. The commonality is that both issues deal with bodily autonomy.
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  2022-05-28

  My parents worry about the psychological implications of our masks

  This is an Instagram post by tat2luvgirl37. This is a political comic referencing both school shootings and mask wearing. The comic artist is trying to create irony where the parents of one of the kids seems to worry more about mask wearing rather than gun protection. The mask versus no-mask camp is highly partisan, with the no-maskers typically being Republican in the United States, and the pro-maskers being Democrat. Additionally, the Republican party is overall viewed as being more-pro gun, which some critics say is the reason why mass shootings happen more often. As we can see by the #voteblue used by the person that reposted this comic, it is very politically charged and meant to be criticism against those that are pro-gun and anti-mask.
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  2022-04-29

  This is our shot

  This is an Instagram post by stutteringloudly. This person is celebrating his mom getting her fourth dose.
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  2022-05-03

  Face masks are attractive

  This is an Instagram post by everydayjustnottoday. The person that posted this equates masks with intelligence. Intelligence to this person is attractive. Masks have been a controversial topic due to the belief that they will inhibit communication or cause psychological issues. There are many different sides to this debate.
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  2022-05-28

  Shanghai edges towards COVID reopening as Beijing plans to ease curbs

  This is a news story from Reuters. After intense lockdowns, Shanghai is looking to reopen again. Shanghai officials urged continued vigilance, even though the vast majority of its 25 million residents live in areas that are in the lowest-risk "prevention" category. "Wear masks in public, no gathering and keep social distance," Zhao Dandan, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission, told a daily news conference. Similar measures are being taken in Beijing, where things are reopening there too, but with restriction. Starting on Sunday, shopping malls, libraries, museums, theatres and gyms will be allowed to reopen, with limits on numbers of people, in the eight of Beijing's 16 districts that have seen no community cases for seven consecutive days.
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  2022-05-25

  Vaccine check control at mall Aventura

  All guests have to have 3 vaccines and an N-95 or double facemask to enter the mall. The flow of in and out of the mall are still controlled.
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  2022-05-23

  Face Mask Suggestion Sign at It's Sugar

  This is a sign on the front door of It's Sugar. It's Sugar is a chain candy store. Here, it is saying that those who have not been vaccinated should continue to wear a mask while inside the store. I went in there today, and no employee asked about my vaccination status, and the employees weren't masked. Arizona as a whole has been pretty light on COVID restrictions, but I imagine that other locations of this store might react differently.