My 'Essential Worker' Experience

#279: 'Low-Exposure', so far, thankfully
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At the risk of sounding flippant, I can say that some 'essential work' is relatively risk free.  If, that is, one adopts a few safety precautions:
  * the big one: wear a mark
  * wash hands, use hand-sanitizer, wipe down surfaces, maintain social distancing, stay at home
and, in addition, if one is lucky enough to:
  * live in an area where the virus is not common

And that describes my circumstances fairly well.

That being said, a few observations that may sound familiar to those in the same boat:

Wearing A Mask
If you wear a mask (for example: the common surgical mask: blue on one side, white on the other, elastic around the ears) you'll recognize these things:
 * you forget that people can't see you smiling; I get around this by using hand gestures, especially the quickly conceived, rushed, fanning action that is just as quickly withdrawn, which expresses an intense friendliness that is nevertheless under control
 * you discover that the hotter the weather, the more unbearable the mask (simply remind oneself of the horrors of the virus)
 * in a job like mine, which is mainly doing what amounts to aerobic exercise, mixed with the occasional strenuous pushing/lifting, the latter will mean one must lower one's mask to get enough fresh air
 * the tightness of one's mask can irritate the area behind one's ears; one wonders whether some human heads may be too large--high bridged noses for instance--for standard masks
 * or, the reverse, that low-bridged noses may mean a much more snug fit, and more air flowing through the cloth, rather than around it; high- and low-bridged noses are, of course, more prevalent in certain areas of the world and could perhaps account for some of a region's success in combating Covid
 * possibly the least significant issue I have with the common surgical mask is how the synthetic material can tickle one's nostrils; this happens when a strand of the fabric is hanging off, due to wear-and-tear

Social Distancing
 * it's surprisingly difficult to remember to keep one's distance; this is especially true for people who are lonely, or for those who regularly bond with others in social settings (being aloof means "see you later" on an intuitive level)
 * I suppose it's possible that over hundreds of thousands of years viruses have caused the evolution of humans to veer away from a more communal lifestyle, and have encouraged things like monogamy (as those who practiced a primitive social distancing would tend to survive and have children who learned that this was normal)
 * theoretically, if this were the case, it's possible that over the centuries, barring a vaccine, Covid (and possibly other such viruses) could steer the human experience away from things like hugging one's neighbor at a church service; packing oneself into a large indoor crowd (rock concert fade away); or even urban life in general