itās crazy how different you get treated in a mask but what really gets me is that when people ask why Iām masking, Iāve stopped saying Iām immunodeficient and started saying I have an immunodeficient family member at home. I am not exaggerating when I tell you this has 100% improved every single encounter Iāve had with anti-maskers. iām not exaggerating in the slightest.
i used to tell people iām immunodeficient and theyād ask invasive questions about my diagnosis, whether my parents kept my childhood overly sterile, whether I was vaccinated as a child (with the implication that it would have been bad if I were).
Now that I say I have an immunodeficient family member at home, people smile knowingly and say, āoh, well you do what you have to do,ā and āmy mom went through chemo. I remember how hard it was to do all the precautionsā and āthatās so kind of you.ā
if i tell someone i mask because iām disabled, iām assumed to be the weak link in our society, a burden to my family.
if i tell someone i mask to protect a disabled family member, i become the burdened, compassionate caretaker deserving of sympathy. how sad that i must limit myself to protect someone i love. how heroic that i choose to do so.