Soapbox

So I have what amounts to a mask stand in my front yard. After weeks of mailing them across the country and having people come to the door to ask for them, it occured to me that, with social distancing, people who need a mask might not want to ask for one face-to-face.
So I put a big sign in my front yard and a large plastic jug to put the mask in. I sew a few almost every day. Sometimes they build up as days go by without any takers, then other times they disappear as fast as I can make them.

Last evening there were 7 in the jug (2 child and 4 adult-sized) and this morning I saw that the cupboard was bare.
So to speak. I wondered if several people had stopped by or if it was one person who needed a lot. And then I had a thought: I hope someone isn’t taking free masks and selling them!
Yipes. That would suck.
I chewed on that though as I added the three I made yesterday and went about my day.

About 3:30 I saw a minivan pull into the intersection and stop. A young girl, maybe 7 or 8 and looking to be of east Asian descent, jumped out, ran into the yard and started going through th bin. She held up one mask packet towards her driver, then another.  I didn’t want to scare her off by coming out but it looked like she was after something she wasn’t finding, so I put on my own mask and stepped out.

“Hi honey. Can I help you?”
Rather than be intimidated, she gestured me to come over. “Hey, are these mask really free? she asked excitedly.
“They sure are” I said. “What do you need?”
“I need a mask” she said.
I nodded. “Yes you do. That mask you’re wearing is much too big for you. These should fit you much better.” I turned the packs over. “Which one do you want? This one has little dogs on it, and this one has astronauts.”
“Can I have them both?” she asked.
“Of course”.
“And this one too?”
“Well that one is grown-up sized,” I said pointing to the lable on the back.
“It’s for my dad,” she explained, gesturing to the van where the driver waved and called “Hello!”.
“Then you should take it too” I said.
“And this is all?”
“Well if you come back tomorrow or the next day there will probably be more. I usually sew a few every day so it just depends if someone else has been by or not”
“Oh good!” she said “’cause I have cousins!”
I sat back on my heels and laughed as she scrambled to her feet.
“Take care now!” I called.
“Stay safe!” she shouted and waved as she climbed into the van and slid the door shut.

What a little charmer she was!

I made a mental note to myself to be sure to work on kids masks- for the cousins. And I’m no longer going to worry about people taking them to sell.