Skip to main content

Why I wear a mask; interviews by Itzel Salazar Cervantes

Dream s United/Sueños Unidos as LP-GE high school student Itzel Salazar to interview some Long Prairie residents about how they felt aout wearing a mask. Three of the seven interviews, in Spanish and English, follow. Others can be found in the January La Voz Libre.Itzel took the photos. -- Tim Tony Burciaga - MN Fresh Supervisor Why do you wear a mask? I wear a mask to be safe and not to catch anything. How do you feel about wearing your mask? Seriously! Honestly? How do I feel? It's safe but I get anxious. I'm not used to it. Well, nobody is used to it. There is a time at work where we have to wear it 24/7. It's really super hard for me. Ten hours having my mouth covered; it gives me really bad anxiety. Would you wear a mask if your friends didn't? Yes! Every time I leave my house. I follow the regulations at the store or anywhere I go I wear a mask. Do you feel safer with your mask? Yes, I do definitely. Have you or any one you know have been affected by Covid 19? Yes, family members. Do you feel that Covid is real? I have different opinions and you want to not believe it. But at times you think is government and political. But I follow the rules and regulations.
¿Por que usas tu tapa boca? Uso mi mascara para protegerme y no contagiarme. ¿Como te sientes usando tu tapa boca? Sinceramente, me siento seguro pero me da ansiedad. No estoy acostumbrado. Bueno nadie esta acostumbrado, hay veces que en el trabajo la tenemos que usar 24/7. Es muy dificil para mi, diez horas con el tapa boca cubriendo mi boca y nariz me da mucha ansiedad. ¿Usarias tu tapa boca si tus amigos lo usar? Si, todo el tiempo que salgo de la casa. Sigo las regulacion a la tienda o donde quiera que valla uso mi tapa boca. ¿Te sientes mas seguro con tu tapa boca? Si, definitivamente. ¿Tu o alguien de tu familia ha sido afectado por Covid 19? Si, miembros de mi familia. ¿Tu crees que el Covid es verdadero? Tengo diferentes opiniones a veces quisiera creerlo pero algunas veces creo que es el gobierno y politicos. Pero sigo las reglas y regulaciones. Maria Mondragon – Labor worker Why do you wear a mask? To protect myself and to protect others. How do you feel about wearing a mask? I cant breathe. Would you wear your mask if your friends didn't? If my friends didn't wear a mask I would. Do you feel safer with the mask? Yes, I feel protected from the virus. What do you think about the virus? I think that the virus is real. I know that a lot of people think that it's not real but I already had the virus and the headaches, body aches, nausea, the losing smell and taste, and the temperature. I had them all. So it is real. What do you do besides wearing a mask to stay protected? I Keep washing my hands. I have a hand sanitizer in the car. I try to stay home and I only leave my house to get groceries and for work.
¿Por que usas tu tapa boca? Para protegerme y a los demás. ¿Como te sientes con la tapa boca? No puedo respirar. ¿Usarias tu tapa boca si tus amigos no usaran? Si mis amigos no usaran su tapa boca yo si la usarian. ¿Te sientes segura con tapa boca? Si, me siento protegida del virus. ¿Que piensas del virus? Yo pienso que el virus es real. Yo sé que otras personas no lo creen. Pero a mi ya me dio dolores de cabeza, dolor de cuerpo, perdí el olor, el sabor, y tenia nausia, y temperatura. Asi que es real. ¿Que haces ademas de usar una tapa boca para mantenerte protegido? Lavando mis manos seguido. Tener un desinfectante el en carro. Trato de quedar me en la casa nada mas para la despensa y el trabajo. Fransisco Cervantes - Retired Why do you wear a mask? I use my mask to protect myself and to avoid the spread. How do you feel about wearing your mask? It doesn't bother me. Would you wear a mask if your friends didn't? Yes, I would. Do you feel safer with your mask? Yes, I feel safe wearing it. Have you, or any one that you know, been affected by Covid 19? Yes, I have been affected already and so has my wife and most of my family members. Do you believe its real? Yes, I think it is real and that it's something to take very seriously. Do you feel at risk when you leave the home? Yes, I feel at risk specially because I am over 70 years old so I am at higher risk.
¿Por que usas tu tapa boca? Uso mi tapa boca para protegerme y evitar el contagio. ¿Como se siente usando su tapa boca? No me molesta. ¿Usarias tu tapa bocas si tus amigos no lo usaran? Si, Lo haria. ¿Se siente seguro con su tapa boca? Si, me siento seguro llevandola puesta. ¿Usted o alguien conocido ha sido afectado por el Covid 19? Si, a mi ya me afecto también a mi esposa y la mayoria de mi familia.  ¿Usted piensa que es verdadero? Si, es verdadero y es algo muy serio. ¿Se siente a riesgo cuando sale de su casa?  ¿Si, me siento en riesgo especialmente por mi edad. Soy mayor de setenta y estoy a más alto riesgo. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Let us all walk in the foot steps of John Lewis

By John King In Selma, Alabama, on Sunday, March 7, 1965, John Lewis, standing in the lead of a long line of marchers, looked down from the crest of The Edmund Pettus Bridge at the line of police armed with clubs, whips and truncheons and said, “I am going to die here.” Lewis intended to lead the marchers from Selma to the capital Montgomery, to demand access to voting for Black people in Alabama. Sheriff Jim Clark lowered his gas mask and led the deputies, some on horseback and some on foot, into the line of marchers. Under swinging clubs and hooves trampling, Lewis was the first to go down. Women and children were not spared. Choking and blinded by tear gas, they were struck by clubs and truncheons wrapped with barbed wire. Lewis, with a fractured skull and a severe concussion, almost did die. The nearby Good Samaritan Hospital did not have enough beds to care for the injured marchers. A nation watched in horror as news footage of that bloody day appeared on T
2 comments
Read more

More Republican dirty tricks

  As a Blue Dog Corporate Democrat, 7th District Rep. Collin Peterson’s votes in Congress go against the beliefs and convictions of progressive voters in our district. I’m one of those progressive 7th District voters. Like most average voters I rarely actually encounter my Member of Congress. However, I recall three encounters with Rep. Peterson over the many years I’ve been stuck with him. I met him at Mikey’s Restaurant, on Main Street in Long Prairie, when he was first campaigning for a seat in Congress. We were both young then and he was full of energy and inspired in me a sense of hope for positive change. Besides, I’d met the Republican incumbent. He was an older man who, it seemed, was operating on dead batteries. I was happy to vote for the energetic Peterson. Some years later I was a delegate to the DFL District convention in Bemidji. Peterson opposed a woman’s right to choose abortion. He was being challenged by a woman who supported the right to that choice. I gave my
Post a Comment
Read more

Step aside Republicans; Minnesotans want electric vehicles

Late last month Senator Paul Gazelka, the Republican leader of the Senate, told the Minnesota Reformer that the Republican controlled Senate would likely fire the acting Commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Laura Bishop, if the Agency, at the behest of the Governor, went ahead with the Clean Car Rule. The rule would require automakers to increase the number of electric vehicles they deliver to Minnesota auto dealers. Gazelka told The Reformer that he’d had “a conversation” with Bishop about the rule. Bishop has not been confirmed by the Senate. Gazelka, and his Republican colleagues, claim that electric vehicles are too expensive and that the rule would be a burden to Minnesotans. Gazelka, and the rest of his Party are wrong. They aren’t paying attention to the economics of EV ownership and they are not paying attention to consumer preferences. Way back in September 2019, Consumer Reports reported on a study of Minnesotans they had done in collaboration with the
2 comments
Read more