Sheran was at the supermarket with his mother. While following his mother from shelf to shelf he pulled his face mask down to his chin. “Sheran, wear your face mask properly!” said his mother in a stern voice.

“But I can’t breathe properly with it!” lied Sheran. The truth was that he just didn’t like wearing a face mask.

“That’s not true,” said his mother, “some doctors and health workers wear it on a daily basis and sometimes even for hours!”

“But I am not a health worker,” muttered Sheran, pulling it back up when his mother gave him an angry look.

The next day when Sheran went to the market with his grandfather, he pulled his mask down as usual.  “Putha, wear that face mask properly, covering your nose and mouth,”
advised his grandfather.

“But my face is itching because of it!” lied Sheran trying to give a false excuse. “That’s not true. Then everyone should be scratching their faces,” said his grandfather shaking his head in disbelief. So Sheran pulled his face mask back up. But every time his grandfather looked the other way, Sheran put it down again.

That evening while coming home from his tuition class, Sheran pulled his face mask down as usual. “Sheran, can you please wear your mask properly,” asked his friend Nadun.

“But why?” asked Sheran.

“To protect yourself from the virus, you already know that!” said Nadun sounding annoyed.

“The virus can even enter from your eyes! So what is the protection that you are talking about?” argued Sheran.

“But at least it will protect you up to a certain limit,” started Nadun. But Sheran just ignored what his friend was saying.

“Why are you always pulling that face mask down?” shouted his mother on another day. “The face mask is not there to cover your chin; it’s not a chin mask!”

“Well, if the virus wants to enter my body it can even enter from my eyes…” started Sheran, giving his famous excuse so as to not wear the face mask.
“You are asked to wear it for a reason by the healthcare professionals, so you must listen and respect that and follow their advice! There is a reason why we are told to wear it,” said his mother.
But Sheran didn’t want to listen to any of it. He pulled it back up just to stop his mother from scolding him.

Sheran acted very stubbornly and pulled his face mask down at every opportunity he got, no matter how much he was told or scolded. “There is no point,” he convinced himself, “without the mask it is still the same!” Sheran didn’t follow any advice on other safety precautions either. He didn’t see any importance even in maintaining a metre distance from others. “Just because I stand close to someone, I am not going to fall sick!” he thought stubbornly.

One day, Sheran went to the bookshop to buy some stationery.
There was a boy standing next to him. Sheran noticed that boy was also wearing his face mask on his chin, just like Sheran wore it. “Maybe he also knows that there is no importance in wearing a face mask,” thought Sheran. The boy was standing very close to him, only about a couple of feet away.
He then leaned towards Sheran to grab
a book from the book stack that was
right next to Sheran. “Achooo..!”
The boy suddenly sneezed without control, almost drenching Sheran.
“Yuk!” shouted Sheran covering his face. “You sneezed all over me!”

“I am so sorry!” said the boy,
“I didn’t mean to… Achooo…”
he sneezed again before he could even complete his sentence. Sheran felt as if he was standing under the shower.

“What are you doing?” shouted Sheran jumping a few feet away. “You could make me also sick!”

“Oh don’t worry! This is not anything serious. It’s just an allergy,” said the boy sounding apologetic.

“How can anyone know without being tested, whether it’s serious or not? There is a face mask on your chin. It’s a face mask and not a chin mask, you know. Why don’t you wear it properly to avoid sneezing on others?” shouted Sheran.

“Well you’re wearing a chin mask too!” said the boy, “you can’t advise me to wear it properly, when you don’t!” Sheran walked away angrily. He couldn’t wait to wash himself.

That evening, while having dinner Sheran told his family about what happened at the bookshop. “Now do you see why you must wear a face mask properly, when you go out?” asked his father. “If that boy wore his face mask properly, he wouldn’t have sneezed all over you!”

“Also if you wore your one properly, half of your face would have been covered too,” nodded his mother.

“It helps to stop germs from spreading from a sick person and slows the virus from spreading around quickly, making everyone sick. It’s a community responsibility to ensure that we don’t make others sick while keeping ourselves safe as well.” said Sheran’s grandfather.

Sheran finally understood the importance of wearing a face mask properly. Although it felt a bit unusual wearing one until you got used to it, the importance of wearing it was far greater. And in order to stay safe and to help others to stay safe, Sheran promised himself to wear the face mask properly from that day on.

 

Kids’ World