Monday, May 4, 2009

Fashionable at last

Fashion has never had much appeal to me. I wear what I like and what is comfortable and give little thought to current fashion trends. I am just as happy wearing an outfit from Wal-Mart as I am wearing an outfit from Saks Fifth Avenue. What everyone else is wearing in the world has little bearing on what I select to wear.

Suddenly, I have stepped into the realm of being “fashionable”. I am on the fringe of being highly fashionable! Just take a glance at headlines on the Internet or cable news stations. The pandemic threat of H1N1 flu has brought droves of new wearers sporting face masks. I have been wearing these attractive blue or pink masks for years, since becoming immunocompromised and neutropenic. Designer masks are generating revenues for their makers, playing more on the fear of a flu pandemic than the desire to be fashionable. I recently saw masks with pig snouts, tongues, various beards and mustaches, and written messages on them.

I could have made a fortune years ago. Over the years I had many ideas for designer masks. When flying with my mask and other passengers would try to avoid sitting in my row or even looking at me, I was often tempted to write, I’M NOT CONTAGIOUS on my masks. Depending upon my mood, I often considered drawing happy or sad faces on my masks. Adding facial hair to my masks had little appeal as did the pig snout addition.

Just a word of warning – if you are considering a purchase of designer face masks, be certain they are up to the task of protecting you from H1N1 or other viral threats – masks carrying a rating of N95 or greater (also known as particulate respirators) are most effective at protecting the wearer.

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