Spring is coming, the Corona measures have fallen in large parts of Austria and with them the obligation to wear masks, almost everywhere, finally. But somehow we are plagued by the uncertainty of whether this was a good or a bad idea. Not because of the virus, which health ministers are still working on in droves, but after its mutation-related omicronization we only laugh smugly in the face despite infection records – while the government allows itself to suspend the controversial vaccination requirement.
No, the masks were also a protection against many other things.
Recently, for example, I went skiing again, which for the first time in almost exactly two years you can do again without major epidemiological concerns. However, wearing a mask is still recommended. That’s not such a bad idea when skiing anyway, because cold is not only a great friend of Covid-19, but also the greatest enemy of the tip of the nose, to use Wolf Haas’ idiom. Recently – no joke – I even put on an FFP2 mask during a long glacier descent, because otherwise I would end up with frostbite of an undetermined degree.
A wild ride on skis
In any case, while preparing for skiing, I noticed that at the beginning of April in the mountains of the upper Ötztal there was also an event called “Open Faces”. Anyone who spontaneously takes this to be a government claim in the best Freedom Day tradition for the new mask freedom ignores the fact that face can not only mean a face but also a mountain face, and that this is a freeride race, i.e. a wild one Ride on skis down a steep mountainside. In this case: the up to 70 degree steep, terrifying “Hangerer” face.
With which the associative bridge would be stretched back to everyday life in the lowlands. Because there, many a face is currently turning out to be a real Hangerer face – and that beyond looking into the abysses of some politicians as soon as their mask falls. For example, after two years of the pandemic, hairdresser Basti’s beard is now furrowed with white strands, as if they were icicles in a north face of the Ötztal. At the sight of some pandemic acquaintances, such as from the daughter’s kindergarten, on the other hand, you are completely overwhelmed because you can no longer recognize them without the scraps. And didn’t Elisabeth, who has always been a bit vain, used the favor of the mask to have her marionette wrinkles smoothed out unnoticed?
In addition, after a week of openness, the question arises as to whether it was wise to relax the mask requirement and curfew at the same time. And not because some keen-eyed misanthropes are already glorifying the curfew era because of the burgeoning nightlife.
Instead of paying attention to inner values when celebrating, you now know immediately whether the person opposite had previously taken the kebab with everything in the kebab shop and that this mysterious mumbling is only connected to the tenth shot of Williams pear. That’s probably why night restaurateurs will consciously dare to wear more masks instead of open faces at some point. But in the current mood, that’s probably asking a lot.
This column also appears in Austria-Newsletter, which brings together reporting on Austria in the SZ every Friday. Register here for free.