An Unexpected Risk of Wearing a Mask

Autumn arrived late this year, but the weather is getting colder by the day.

One of the things that troubles me when the cold weather sets in is air conditioning.

Over the past few years, my throat seems to have become more sensitive. Whenever I enter an air-conditioned room, my throat quickly becomes sore, and I start coughing.

During the summer, the indoor air may have been somewhat more humid, so my throat did not bother me quite as much. But now that the humidity is dropping, things are getting rather uncomfortable.

So, to avoid bothering people around me, I end up wearing a mask.

The trouble is, I have never liked wearing masks. I put one on when my throat starts to hurt and I feel a cough coming, then take it off once my throat feels moist again and the pain subsides.

I repeat this process throughout the day.

Even on the train, I keep putting my mask on and taking it off as I get on and off.

Naturally, I take it off when I leave the train. But yesterday, just as I was about to get off, something rather alarming happened. When I removed my mask, one of my wireless earbuds came off with it.

Normally, I use both hands to carefully remove my mask without disturbing my earbuds. But yesterday it was raining, and I had an umbrella in one hand, so things did not go quite as usual.

Fortunately, I was still on the train, and the earbud had stayed inside the carriage. Unfortunately, it had rolled under one of the seats.

In a panic, I crouched down, got on my knees, and peered under the seat. Luckily, I managed to find it.

Who would have thought that wearing a mask could involve such an unexpected risk? The experience only made me dislike masks even more.

Anyway, I was relieved that I had not lost my rather expensive earbud.

And I suppose I was also lucky that everyone sitting on that row of seats was a man.

Apparently, even something as simple as taking off a mask requires a little caution.

English	日本語・解説
set in	（寒さや季節などが）始まる、本格化する
sore throat	喉の痛み
humidity	湿度
feel a cough coming	咳が出そうになる
earbuds	イヤホン（特に小型のもの）
carriage	鉄道車両（主にイギリス英語）
crouch down	しゃがみ込む
peer under	～の下をじっと覗き込む
Who would have thought...?	まさか～とは思わなかった
rather expensive	かなり高価な、少々値の張る

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