tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146512.post3828838350633021650..comments2024-03-12T22:31:46.500-04:00Comments on What Would Phoebe Do?: Memories of yuba and morePhoebe Maltz Bovyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996039330841139883noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146512.post-38918179893020078292014-05-08T03:52:29.108-04:002014-05-08T03:52:29.108-04:00In China people will wear masks if they're sic...In China people will wear masks if they're sick, to prevent spreading germs. People will wear masks for pollution, except normal masks don't actually do anything. They can actually make it worse, since they can trap polluted air close to your face. In Beijing, it's more and more common for people to wear masks with filtering capabilities, or depending on the level of pollution, full on gas masks.Brittahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02224221011978374915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146512.post-46799553676469461332014-05-06T15:12:16.613-04:002014-05-06T15:12:16.613-04:00Germs make sense, and I did see people coughing in...Germs make sense, and I did see people coughing into their masks, and in those instances, really appreciated the masks! As for the makeup issue, could be, but it didn't look like more women than men were wearing them.Phoebe Maltz Bovyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17996039330841139883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146512.post-76283508537203452132014-05-06T00:09:43.298-04:002014-05-06T00:09:43.298-04:00My sister teaches ESOL to teenagers and adults in ...My sister teaches ESOL to teenagers and adults in Boston and once asked a bunch of Korean or Japanese students why so many Asian tourists wore medical masks. They said that sometimes it's to prevent spreading germs if <i>you're</i> sick, or if they hadn't had time to put on makeup that day (back home, and being a group of young women). I'm sure they weren't pulling her leg, but I'm not sure how valid/widespread those reasons are in reality. So there are two more possibilities!FarFromBretonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146512.post-57921028317211719122014-05-05T08:09:40.090-04:002014-05-05T08:09:40.090-04:00Pollen and pollution, not possibilities I'd co...Pollen and pollution, not possibilities I'd considered! Whatever the case, I kept wavering between thinking it seemed bizarre and thinking that it *is* kind of disgusting to be on a crowded train, and thus maybe appealing on a visceral level to wear a mask.Phoebe Maltz Bovyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17996039330841139883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146512.post-55027814807351083342014-05-04T16:35:16.221-04:002014-05-04T16:35:16.221-04:00Another reason to wear a face mask, which has incr...Another reason to wear a face mask, which has increased in recent years, is pollen(hay fever is on the ruse or getting worse it seems). Yet another--which I haven't been in Japan for since it started hitting the news--is air pollution, stereotypically from China: there are regular reports on when PM2.5 levels are high.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com