Caregiving in the Time of CoVid-19, #14: Elastic is the New Toilet Paper

You cannot purchase 1/4 inch wide elastic anywhere just now. It’s back-ordered everywhere because everyone has gone in for mask-making.

I am not surprised now we are all supposed to wear a mask anytime we are nearby others and cannot maintain the six feet of distance. I am taking this seriously, wearing mine to the grocery store, to carry out/curbside pick-up, and the post office (about the only places that I go), and I carry my mask with me when I take a walk.

I’ve decided that I do not need to wear my mask all the time when I walk, however, I do wear it on local trails sometimes, because of the crowds. In my area in the late afternoon, people tend to emerge from their homes to walk, run and bike. Parks are not open, and many, many people are taking exercise seriously doing their best to maintain social distancing.

So I’ve been making masks. First for my husband and me — it took three to get pretty good at making them for the two of us. Then some for my family in Atlanta and cousins in New Jersey. Next comes a group of friends. Unfortunately along the way I have run out of 1/4 inch wide elastic, which appears now to be more difficult to purchase than toilet paper.

I am so glad, though, that people are taking it seriously.

So I now understand more clearly the old saying, “Necessity is the mother of invention,” and I”ve been looking for solutions to my elastic problem. I’ve tried all sorts of ways to make better ties and elastic holders — scrunchies, cut up leggings, elastic bandages, even cutting up wider elastic. Some work better than others, but all have some use as long as there is an elastic shortage.

Please Note: Masks are a caregiving intervention, not a cure. They are a way to put one more layer between each of us and the Co-Vid19 virus. Wearing one does not mean that, now that we all have masks, we can all indulge in additional activities and get back to life as it was in the past. Staying at home most of the time is still, for the time being, the way to live just now.