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The Surreality of Navigating Airports During the Pandemic
Last week, I flew out of town for the first time since the start of the pandemic. It was a family event (sadly, a long-delayed funeral) and despite the fact that we’re both vaccinated, the idea of climbing into a tin can for a couple of hours didn’t appeal.
We Got Lucky
Going to get this out of the way first. Our trip had absolutely no delays or issues. Nobody screamed at the flight attendants for having to wear a mask (which has been a thing). The plane started (After one trip, I now hold my breath until it does, because the plane not starting makes for not fun).
Relatively few people in either airport were unmasked, and most that were were unmasked either to eat or because the person on the other end of their cell call couldn’t hear them. I’ll give them a pass on that as masks can make that hard.
But it was still faintly surreal. Mostly because…it wasn’t actually that different.
Really?
Really. Yes, we had to wear masks (and lower them for security, which I would have preferred to avoid. I tried to find out if wearing a clear mask would get around this requirement, but that might be worth looking into if you are immunocompromised or unable to get vaccinated).