March 21st, 2020
In this pandemic, picking up litter on streets also feels different than before. I look at littered plastic bags and can’t help thinking, is it safe to touch them? (Pretty amazing that I had left my wonderful tongs at my studio right before we went lockdown.)
This concern is kind of ridiculous. The plastic bags have never been the cleanest thing in the first place, so why suddenly worry now not before? Due to the lack of knowledge I have no real reason to be afraid of them. I also don’t have any reason to be not afraid. I just observed that there was this new fear in me. I thought of the people who had covered their faces as they’d walked past me, directly looking into my East Asian face, as if I was the source of the virus. I wondered if this little fear I felt towards the bags was the same kind as theirs towards me. And in their eyes I may be not so different from littered plastic bags now.
I picked them up, though I did give them very thorough washing with soap and hot water as soon as I took them home. Time to get a pair of litter-picking gloves to play safe just in case.
