When You’ve Gotta Sneeze While Wearing a Mask [OPINION]

What do you do when you are wearing a mask in a public place and you've got to sneeze? Seriously. It happened to me on Thursday while attending the grand re-opening of Marshall's in Fairhaven.

About three-quarters of the way through my Marshall's shopping experience, I realized that I had to sneeze. Now, sneezing is something that can get you killed these days even if you are six feet apart from everyone else. It would at least elicit a strong reaction from others nearby that might be less than favorable. After all, there is this plague to think about.

What do you do?

Since I had spent half an hour in line waiting for the store to re-open, I was not about to run outside. Besides, I had a handful of merchandise and I couldn't very well take it with me and I wasn't about to put it down.

What DO you do?

My options were limited and time was not on my side. You know how sneezes can be. Sometimes you can convince them to stay inside but more often than not they ain't listening to that crap and they are coming out. My sneeze was of that frame of mind.

So, what did I do?

What could I do? I sneezed. In my mask. It wasn't pleasant. My only other option would have been to remove the mask and sneeze into my elbow. That could have resulted in my being severely beaten with a mannequin's arm.

So I took one for the team.

The things we didn't even consider as problematic just months ago before the plague came along. Ah, how simple life was back then.

Moral of the story? When you gotta go, you gotta go. Just be sure to have a clean replacement mask in your pocket in case you've gotta sneeze. It could save you from being beaten with mannequin parts.

Barry Richard is the host of The Barry Richard Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. Contact him at barry@wbsm.com and follow him on Twitter @BarryJRichard58. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.