Graduation from Masks / 卒マスク😷（My Actifit Report Card: July 10 2024）

（日本語は後半にあります）

【English】

The high temperature in Tokyo for the past few days has been close to 35 degrees Celsius, and I am very much not in the mood for walking during the day.

Today I went shopping while taking my second son to and from his swimming school, and walked a little on my way home from my part-time job at night. In total, I managed to reach 5,000 steps. The air conditioner at home is on 24 hours a day and I am worried about the electricity bill, but if I turn it off, I fear for our lives. It has been so hot since the beginning of July, and I am now depressed to think what will happen in August.

By the way, I stopped wearing masks at work around the middle of last month. I have also urged my 11-year-old son, who stubbornly wore a mask to school, to stop doing so. I work as a clerk in a small supermarket. From the beginning of my employment, the wearing of masks was left to the discretion of the individual, but since most employees wore masks to work, I followed suit.

I don't know how it is in other countries, but in Japan, many people still wear masks...especially when standing on the side of providing services. That is a personal choice and I don't mind, but I myself didn't feel like I could survive this extreme heat by wearing a mask.... The other day, when my stock of paper masks at home ran out, I stopped buying new ones and decided to graduate from wearing masks in my normal life.

Recently, a girl working at the same store had to leave early due to heat stroke-like symptoms when she was standing at the register wearing a mask. The manager called to see if I could come in early instead, and I went in 30 minutes early that day. Wearing a mask is a personal choice, a personal freedom... but I think it's better not to do it if you're going to get sick!

Strangely enough, since I started standing at the cash register with my mask off, I no longer receive unreasonable complaints from customers or receive a high-handed attitude from them. Is it because they can now see my expression? I had always tried to stand in the store with a smile on my face as much as possible, but no matter how much I smiled under the mask, they could not see it. However, I cannot verify this because it may be that I simply became accustomed to my job recently and irritated customers less.

I have another thought. My face isn't exactly amazingly beautiful, but it's the only one in the world. So, I think I should show it! I will wear it only to hospitals if they ask me to, but I have decided to go to other places without a mask.

Perhaps I should be thankful for the heat wave in that it allowed me to make this decision.

-----------------------*★

【Japanese】

ここ数日東京の最高気温は35度近い日が続いていて、とても日中にウォーキングする気にはなれません。

今日は次男のスイミングスクールの送迎ついでに買い物をしたのと、夜パートの帰りに少し歩いただけでした。合計で何とか5,000歩を達成しました。エアコンは24時間つけっぱなしで電気代が心配だけど、OFFにしたら命が心配です。7月も序盤からこんなに暑くて、8月はどうなるのだろうと思うと今から憂鬱です。

ところで、先月半ば頃から私は仕事中のマスクをやめました。頑なにマスクをして登校していた長男にも、もうやめるよう促しました。

ほかの国ではどうか分かりませんが、日本ではいまだに多くの人が・・・特にサービスを提供する側に立つ際はマスクをしています。それは個人の自由なので良いのですが、私自身はこの酷暑をマスク着用で乗り越えられる気がしなかったので・・・。先日、自宅の紙マスクの在庫がなくなったのを機に新しいものを買うのをやめ、通常の生活においてはマスクを卒業することにしました。

先日も同じ店舗で働く女の子が、マスク着用でレジに立っていたところ、熱中症のような症状が出て早退したことがありました。体調不良者が出たから早く来られないかと店長から電話があり、その日は30分早く出勤したのでした。マスク着用は個人の自由、個人の自由… ではあるけれど、具合が悪くなるくらいならやめた方が良いと思う！

不思議なことに、マスクを外してレジに立つようになってから、来店客から理不尽なクレームを受けたり、高圧的な態度をとられることがなくなりました。こちらの表情が分かるからでしょうか。以前からできるだけ笑顔で店頭に立つようにはしていたのですが、マスクの下でいくらニコニコしても見えなかったようです。とはいえ、時期的に、単に私が仕事に慣れてお客さんを苛立たさせることが減っただけかもしれないので、検証はできませんが。

あと、最近思ったんです。私の顔は、別にそんなにすごくいい顔ってわけじゃないけれど、この世にひとつしかないわけだし。であれば、出したほうがいいよね！と。病院だけは、そこで求められるなら着用しようと思いますが、他はもうノーマスクで行くことに決めました。

この決断を私にさせてくれたという点においてだけは、この猛暑に感謝すべきかもしれません。

This report was published via Actifit app (Android | iOS). Check out the original version here on actifit.io

Walking,Daily Activity