For In Those Carefree Days, We Wore Our Maskies

Alexander DeLarge, Leonard Nimoy, James Lileks goes in search of the ubiquitous facemask:

I went to a drug store. They also have innumerable sundries that make it easier to conceal your embarrassing purchase. Uh, I’ll take some condoms, a pack of Marlboros, a Playboy. Oh, and toss in some facemasks. I mean, anyone who’s buying facemasks at this point is jumping the gun. Or uses one to make a living, maybe. Makes you wonder if we’ll have interesting masks should H1N1 turn into something bad; I recall the SARS epidemic led some Japanese to customize their masks. If you don’t think the end of the world is bad enough, wait until everyone’s walking around with Hello Kitty over their mouths.

Read the whole thing, as those who (at least for the moment!) aren’t suffering from SARS or la grippe porcine like to say.

Update: Tim Blair has more masked mayhem, and adds, “Mi aerodeslizador está lleno de anguilas”. Oh, sorry, I meant, my tobacconist is full of eels!