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COVID-19 Diary: Why Aren't the English Wearing Masks?

Jamie Dettmer

   LONDON - The advert on an elevator door at Washington's Dulles airport
   read: "Say Hi And Smile At Your Fellow Travelers. It's Good for
   Everyone."

   That's easier said than done when you are wearing a mask --and there
   are no other travelers in sight!

   I am used to flying a lot. Because of work, sometimes several times a
   month. I am seldom anxious. There have been the odd anxiety-inducing
   trips, mainly into war-torn countries. A flight on a wave-hopping small
   turboprop from Malta into Libya's Tripoli wasn't much fun. But I can
   confide that I was unusually anxious last week taking a flight to
   London.

   In fact, the flight turned out to be one of the smoothest transatlantic
   trips I have taken in 40 years -- mainly thanks to the lack of 'fellow
   travelers.'

   The normally bustling Dulles airport was empty. There were just three
   other international flights departing the airport on the night I flew
   out. There were only four other people checking in at the same time as
   me. Security was a breeze.

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