Masked men in my house !

What's this? A few months ago masked men in your house would signify an armed robbery with all the fear and sheer panic such an event would generate.  More realistically armed robbers these days would probably wear a full latex face covering with the features of a clown  or  David Beckham  or another celebrity.  Prior to that in the days of T.V detective shows like the Sweeney in 1980's Britain  a  black balaclava was likely to  be the robber's choice of headwear.  Further back in time , in  the olden days ,  as they say ,  of the 19th and early 20th century , robbers  might have worn a bandanna face covering in the manner of the cowboys of the wild West. Cowboys wore them as protection against the dust of the open plain as they herded cattle to market.

Of course in stories and films there have also  been  'good' men who wore masks. One  such is  Zorro who was a vigilante character defending the oppressed in Los Angeles. His story first came out in 1919. 

Many of us   older  ones will remember the 1950's  t.v series ' The  Lone Ranger'  . The hero and and his sidekick Tonto  worked on the side of law and order to right injustice in the  western  U.SA.  At the end of each episode someone would ask who was the handsome masked horseman who had helped them in their troubles. The answer would be: 

" Why he's the lone ranger. " with a long emphasis on the 'o'.

Today's  most well known masked  do gooders thanks to  the recent films about them  are Batman and his young helper, Robin. The duo fought against evil and super villains  in Gotham city.They first  appeared in comics back in the 1940's.

What links these fictional  crusaders is that they all wore masks which covered their eyes . Thus they   differed from the regular cowboys  and old time  robbers . When President Trump said recently that he thought he looked good in a mask and that he  looked like the Lone Ranger he was,  as everyone realised ,   confusing the different types of face coverings. 

In the  covid 19  stricken world of 2020 ,  however , sadly ,  masks mean something  very different. They can be mandatory or advisory.  In place x they are the rule and  and in Y  you can choose whether to wear one. It all depends  on  the country you are in and the  precise location within that country be it a shop, a pub, a hospital   or any public place.  It's all very confusing really.  The  pandemic masks cover the mouth  and nose : their purpose is to stop  the spread of the virus.

                                                       Making masks.

The two men who came into my house wearing masks on Friday were meticulously  complying with  the covid health and safety regulations as set out by their company. They had come to fix my stair lift which had stopped working and to give it an annual service at the same time. As they entered the house they sanitised their hands. They wore their masks for the whole 40 minutes they were in the house and that made communication a little more difficult as sounds were muffled by the blue fabric . They told me that in some clients' houses they had needed to wear paper hazmat suits and visors . Presumably this was for people who were shielding because at greater risk from infection.

I was impressed by their compliance with regulations and pleased that they fixed the stair lift. They also sanitised the seat before they left.

It is still bizarre however  that these things are happening whereas a year ago we could not have envisaged welcoming masked men into one's  home by appointment.