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A Pandemic Primer
What I learned from ‘the mask argument’
The mango lady taught me the most important lesson of the pandemic.
No, it wasn’t about the best masks to wear or the ideal hand sanitizer with the correct percentage of alcohol or how to Zoom with breakout rooms. It was something even more significant, something we all know but sometimes forget.
Entrance: The Supermarket
It was summertime and the supermarket scene was down pat: mask, wipes for the handle of the cart, alcohol spray for my hands, reusable and newly washed grocery bags, a safe distance from others. You get the drill.
I was on a quest for a mango. It had been a year since I had one and when I came across a recipe requiring a mango, I just had a yen to try it.
Meet the Mango Lady
I head to the fruit section of the produce aisle and spy the mangos. A large woman with three young children is standing there. I stay back at a safe distance watching her pick up mangos, squeeze them, pass them to what appeared to be her mother-in-law to test out, take them back, and repeat.
I was thinking it’s a good thing I can easily wash my mango when I eventually get one, and the skin does not get eaten so that is also good. Then I spy the…
