In his play, “Six Degrees of Separation,” John Guare tells us that everyone in the world, is, in some way, touched by everyone else, and all people are six social connections from each
other—- friend of a friend. Also, T.S. Elliott reminded us years ago, to, “Prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet.”

However, in these COVID-19 days, since everyone is masked, we only have to prepare the upper half, and since my bangs are hanging over my eyebrows, a drop of artificial tears in each eye is the extent of my preparation.

Six degrees of separation has become literal rather that literary, and reading facial expressions is impossible. Pity the poor bank tellers, when a masked man, wearing rubber gloves, approaches them and mumbles something about money.

Granted, that in the good old days, sometimes it was really hard to communicate with some people, especially if what they were saying made no sense at all, but at least you could see if their lips were moving. Now, when the mask goes on, you have no idea if the other person is smiling, and half the time what they are saying is muffled, since they are whispering from six feet away. In that case it’s good to assume that you have missed nothing at all.

If this pandemic had happened in 1503, Leonardo da Vinci would have gone nuts! It took him 16 years, nearly until his death, to finally capture Mona Lisa’s smile. When you look at that smile, you ask yourself,”What is she thinking?” His model, Lisa del Giocondo was  probably thinking, “Hey, Leo, Why is it taking you so long?” But, that’s another story.

In 2020, we have to accept that “Losing Face” has taken on a whole new meaning. I guess for awhile now the eyes have it—-a friendly wink will have to suffice.  However, if you see someone’s eyes crossed, the mask might just be a modicum too tight. In that case, I advise, LOOSEN UP!  This too will pass.

Esther Blumenfeld