The Surgical Face Masks in the Airports are Scary

Jay Love — Wed, 06 May 2009 17:15:00 GMT

During a couple of my short travels over the last few weeks the number of face masks keeps eerily increasing. As you look around, you feel a bit like you are in a hospital, combat zone or some foreign country. Obviously, this is due to the item most discussed in email, on the news and of course via Twitter - the Swine Flu outbreak.

Perhaps this manner of keeping viruses and germs from spreading may catch on. Boy, would it be nice to not have so many colds and the flu spread around in future years. Maybe it is an idea or concept whose time has come, or maybe not. Some folks think the masks actually increase your chances of contracting the flu! This action, plus much more active cleansing of the hands could make a huge difference in so many public places. Maybe the masks will become as common as the blue tooth cell phone devices on people's heads.

Just think... the masks might be in public restrooms right next to the paper towel dispensers!

I took a walk up and down the aisle of the plane I was on and counted about 20 such face masks. It was actually helping keep one older gentleman’s snoring to a slightly quieter dull roar... During my walk down the plane, I thought of all those years I flew in the enclosed tube of stale air they call a jet, where they allowed people to smoke. I would still love to know the real health issue effects of that lapse of judgment.

One of my memories is from the first month when they finally changed the rule and no longer allowed smoking on planes. The uproar was amazing. You would have thought the government was taking their 401K away. I was on a flight to Scranton, PA, to speak at a fundraising conference and was sandwiched between two obviously heavy smokers. The chewing gum and M&M's were being passed back and forth quite often. I have to hand it to the flight attendant, who deserved a medal of honor for taking their somewhat abusive questions on why she was actually enforcing the rule. Upon landing, the lady sitting in front of the three of us turned around and announced she was a lung cancer survivor with only part of each lung left, and urged them to rethink their habit. Both of the folks on either side of me looked like they would genuinely ponder the suggestion. I wondered if it made a difference.

Amazing how such memories stick in one’s mind for so many years. Back to more nonprofit stories next week...

The Jay Love Blog : Swine Flu

The Surgical Face Masks in the Airports are Scary