Michael Chugani 褚简宁 - mask mandates｜又中又英

December 1 was freedom day in Taiwan. I don’t mean freedom in a political sense. I consider December 1 freedom day because Taiwan lifted the outdoor mask mandate. It was a breath of fresh air for the outdoor mask mandate to end. The word “mandate” has several meanings but used this way it means a government order to do something. A mask mandate, therefore, is a government order to wear facemasks. Most countries have already ended outdoor mask mandates although some still require masks indoors and on public transport.

A breath of fresh air can mean a brief period of breathing fresh air outdoors but can also mean something new that makes the situation exciting. Both meanings can apply to the end of an outdoor mask mandate. People can finally breathe fresh outdoor air because there is no rule to wear a facemask. The end of the outdoor mask mandate is a breath of fresh air because it is new and exciting. I was excited when Taiwan ended the outdoor mask mandate. The US ended the indoor and outdoor mask mandate a long time ago.

I was so used to not wearing a mask in the US that I had to shift gears and start getting used to wearing a facemask when I arrived in Taiwan. To shift gears used this way means to suddenly change what you have been doing. I tried to shift gears again on December 1 by not wearing a facemask outdoors. But when I went outdoors, everyone was still wearing one except for a foreigner I saw. Taiwanese people are so used to wearing facemasks it’s hard for them to shift gears.

十二月一日是台湾的「自由日」——我指的不是政治意义上的「自由」；我认为十二月一日是自由日，因为台湾解除了户外口罩令（mask mandate）。户外口罩令（mask mandate）结束，令人耳目一新（a breath of fresh air）。Mandate有几个意思，但在这里是指政府下的一项命令、指令 ；因此，a mask mandate就是政府下令要市民佩戴口罩。大部份国家即使要求在室内和公共交通工具上戴口罩，但都已经结束了户外口罩令（mask mandates）。

A breath of fresh air可以指在户外呼吸片刻的清新空气，但也可以指一些带来起色、生气的事物，令环境耳目一新。这两个意思同样可以应用到户外口罩令（mask mandate）的结束：因为没有规定要戴口罩，人们终于可以在户外呼吸新鲜空气；而结束户外口罩令（mask mandate），同样令人感到耳目一新（a breath of fresh air），因为这是令人感到新鲜而兴奋的。台湾解除户外口罩令（mask mandate），我实在很兴奋。美国在很久以前已经全面结束了室内和室外的口罩令（mask mandate）。

我习惯了在美国不用戴口罩，因此来到台湾之后，我必须要 shift gears，开始习惯去戴口罩。To shift gears在这里是指突然改变你一直在做的事。十二月一日，我又尝试调整（shift gears），在户外不戴口罩；可是当我外出时，除了我见到的一个外国人，人人都还在戴口罩。台湾人已经太习惯戴口罩了，很难要他们去调整、改变做法（shift gears）。中译：七刻
Michael Chugani 褚简宁