Middle-aged man on bicycle blew through stop sign, causing me to slam on brakes and tap horn. He circled back and stopped in front of my car, blocking it. I let fly with some choice words, backed up and drove around him. I assumed he was a hostile jerk. Someone else might have beaten him up or hit him with the car.

Only later I recalled the empty eyes. He might have been mentally disabled, but I couldn’t tell because I couldn’t see the rest of his face because of his mask. Why he needed a mask on a bicycle alone is another question. But kids have missed a year of learning to read facial expressions. And we all are missing important clues to mood and mental ability. Social interaction is difficult enough without blocking these clues.

Masks should be required where science backs this up, but with the understanding that, like everything we do, there is a downside.