no, silly, not the literal covidic masking. the metaphorical masking and social distancing for which i learned as a child prostitute and have since invested a great many therapy hours to understanding. as a child prostitute, masking was a necessary social skill. yes, janie dear and johnny dear, you are the hottest lovers in the whorehouse. one of a kind. . . choke, choke, cough, cough. . . i didn't mean it when i cooed, "hurry back." either. just doing my job. of course i had no formal psycho terms for the practice. it was primal to survival. psycho terms have rapid cycled since i began therapy in 1972, so the formal names used then are as obsolete as analog phones, anyway, but the work continues under whatever name fits the current convo. mindful awareness remains my primary psychotherapy tool for the still going psycho tick. masks and social distances are necessary social skils in any profession. car mechanics who tell customers of any gender what they REALLY think of them generally get fired in a hurry. ditto for car mechanics who try to get customers with fat budgets to adopt them. mind your social distances, moron.

within my street-acquired understanding of masks, assumption is the mask i am currently sorting. in street survival, assumption is the safest mask available. if the person i was speaking to assumed i was, "just a kid," i knew i was virtually invisible to them. invisibility is a super power. if you can't see me, you can't stop me. what's in YOUR wallet?

since my retirement from construction and engineering in 1995, i have been hiding behind the "housewife" assumptions. yes, ma'am/sir, i am whatever it is you assume that to be, but you can still wash your own freakin' socks. it feels mostly safe and cozy in the shadow of my truly remarkable man, but my science and engineering compulsions still linger, creating unpredictable mischief while the linger unused.

i'm not sure what i am reaching for here. . . just reaching.

thoughts? experience? unsolicited advice?