Going to School Naked by Evan Barragate

Wholesale PPE, Face Masks, Disinfecting Wipes, Shields & Shoe Cover

One of the most common nightmares is going to school or work naked, the meaning behind which is hard to figure out. Nonetheless, it is not an unexpected dream, as dreams are usually embarrassing, terrifying, and gross. What could be more awkwardly frightening than going to school naked? As for me, I have fortunately not had this dream. But today, I faced this dream in real life.

No, I did not actually walk into the building naked, but it did feel that way. For the first time in over a year, I was in the school building without a face mask. It was odd how strange it felt to not have anything covering my face. A year ago, I thought I would need to hold my breath while it was covered to prevent it from wafting back into my nose. Today, it felt rude to breathe too hard without a barrier stopping it from reaching other people.

The strangest part was the feeling of bareness on the lower half of my face. It felt like I was naked and had to pretend like it was normal, and everyone else had to pretend like it was normal as well. After so much time spent with the fabric covering, it eventually began to feel like a shirt––something you know is there and is not part of the body, but feels so natural that you feel even more strange without it.

Without the coverage of a mask, it feels like people will suddenly be able to read my mind and my expressions will reveal all of my secrets. And there is some truth to this; I never realized how much I smile and laugh at people without them knowing behind my mask. I now have to relearn how to put on a poker face, or else everyone will begin to hate me. 

However, this comes with advantages as it is easier to make it clear that you are smiling at someone’s jokes or just their presence, which can make people like you more (unless you differ from me and just smile when you are actually happy). But even though people can see my big, fake smile, they also have to see the pimple on the side of my cheek, and my nose, and my other cheek, which can make this end to the mask mandate that we all looked forward to into something I should have dreaded.

But remember one thing: if humans can suffer through realistic dreams of walking into school naked, we can hopefully learn to be comfortable with the feeling of baring our face after a long pandemic––or the feeling of continuing to mask even if it is not required.

4 thoughts on “Going to School Naked by Evan Barragate

  1. Ha! Appropriate comparison. One teacher told me that they felt like their underwear was sticking out when they walked into the building without the mask. Hopefully, we all begin to feel more comfortable with our “faces out” again. 🙂

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