What Happens When I Wear a Mask With a Picture of My Own Face on it?

When the pandemic first hit of course like everyone else I needed a mask. But what to get on it? The logo of my favourite band? My favourite team? A Superman logo? None of them really felt like “me” but I knew something that was:

Me!

I hummed and I hawed, I crossed my fingers hoping the pandemic would end and let laziness slip time away from me. Finally in October we did it. My wife found a few websites that offered to print any photo onto a mask and we got out the camera. It took a few shots to get the right image and my wife had to spend some time adjusting and readjusting, and finally the mask was ordered. Three months later(!) it finally arrived.

Okay, it wasn’t perfect. The image was a bit bigger than it should have been and my tan didn’t exactly match up, but it was basically what I was imagining. Then it was time to go to the mall (yes, malls are still open here in Newfoundland, as are most stores and services)!

Though I noticed several double takes and people giving me the eye it was about five minutes before I heard my first comment, from a lady in the Walmart: “Wow, that face is creepy!” she said. That was a little off-putting, as it is my very own face, and I’ve never really thought that I looked creepy.

Soon a man and his wife approached me, asking where he could get one. Again I was surprised, as I can’t imagine why anyone else would want to wear a mask with a picture of my face on it. (Just kidding) This soon became the most common comment, which pleased me. I think it would be great if everyone wore their own face on their mask. Then I’d be able to recognize them!

I walked into McDonald’s and the cashier gave me a wide-eyed look. “I almost told you that you’d have to leave,” she gasped when I arrived at the counter. “I swear I thought you weren’t wearing a mask at all!”

In the bank the I had to briefly pull my mask down for their security camera, but the surprised teller mentioned that I probably didn’t really have to! She ended up calling all the other tellers over for a look.

Curiously, I figured that a mask like this would be subtle and mostly unnoticeable but it sure didn’t work out that way! If you want to try the same thing I’m sure you’ll find lots of websites that can help you get it done. We used bestcanvas.ca but I’m not sure I would recommend them. In addition to being very slow the mask seems to be of mediocre quality.

But I do recommend that you get your own-face facemask somewhere. If nothing else, you’ll always know which mask is yours!