Excuse Me If I’m Not Ready to Unmask
In Rob Reiner’s 1987 cult comedy, The Princess Bride, Fezzik asks the mysterious man in black a question as they scuffle atop the Cliffs of Insanity: “Why do you wear a mask? Were you burned by acid or something like that?” “Oh no,” replies the masked stranger, secretly a humble stable boy. “It’s just that they’re terribly comfortable. I think everyone will be wearing them in the future.”
This quote, from one of the world’s most quotable movies, got passed around a lot last spring, in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. You can even find it. More than a year later, the exchange has taken on added meaning. Why we continue to wear masks, especially those of us who have been vaccinated (still less than halfburned by acid or something? Maybe it just like we were.
