The ability to blend does not necessarily requite conformity, any opportunity for individual expression within a larger group gives the chance to be both normal and separate. This second decade of the twenty-first century has seen the regular rules that govern social gatherings, personal interactions, by necessity vastly change, facilitating the medicinal requirements of isolation, quarantines, and public social distancing.
To some degree masking requitements might be seen as utilitarian, being a response to governmental and institutional mandates for general wellbeing. However the requirements are minor in demand, a combination mouth and nose covering fulfilling all requirements, and in the process presenting an opportunity for outlandish decoration or singularity, an expression of individualism for once wholly approved and welcomed by society. Social distancing is equally a two-edged sword, limiting casual intimacy, but reestablishing a habit longtime set aside, simple formalized courtesy.
Daily Abstract Thoughts 