An 83-year-old tissue seller wore her face mask incorrectly
Tuesday Jul 14, 2020
“There is no need to worry,” the 83-year-old wheel-chaired, leathery faced tissue seller assured me that the mask wearing enforcers would not bother her as she had her face mask hanging loose around her neck. “Where have you been? I have not seen you for a long time!”
“You had been selling tissues since April 7 when the Covid-19 lockdown started?” I asked. “The government officers wheeled me home when they stopped me selling. I have started around 10 days ago.”
“You ought to wear your mask properly,” I told her that her mask's right ear loop was broken. It was knotted so that she could re-use it. She would not be protected from infectious Covid-19 viral droplets and aerosols from the various passers-by at this traffic junction. “Not to worry. You sounded like the enforcers!”
I gave her two new red disposable masks and money. She thanked me and wished me prosperity and good health. I had thought that she would not be selling tissue papers anymore after 3 months of lockdown, but here she was. Her eyes were tired but she told me she would rather not stay at home and stare at the four walls. Besides, the welfare bodies gave her $200 per month which was insufficient. In this job, she could meet people.
There were kind people who would give her $2.00 to buy a packet of tissue. Some gave her money.
One man usually bought her lunch. She suffered from paraplegia after an emergency intestinal surgery when she developed vomiting and diarrhoea after eating some food from the hawker stall.
The aunty did change to a new disposable face mask but did not use my two red ones.
Mask wearing is mandatory when outdoors until the end of the Covid-19 pandemic which is probably next year. The penalty for not wearing the face mask outdoors, unless permitted, is a $300 fine.
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