There is Mercy in this World

I walked into the doctor's reception lobby.

This was my first visit.

As I looked around, I felt a slight tingle of shock combined with dissapointment.

The sign on the wall.

It said: Please put your mask on.

I squeamed inside. I continued walking into the lobby. Another sign. Another. By the time I'd done the tour, I'd seen 4 replicas of paper signs asking me to put on a mask.

The year was 2025.

Weren't we supposed to be done with all this? After I processed the horror of the situation around me, I started to feel a slight panic titilate my nerve endings. Memories of lockdowns and crowds of people wearing masks swept over my consciousness.

I felt like something was coming over me. My heart skipped a millibeat.

I told the lady at the reception: "You have get rid of these signs, it's been four years, we're done with COVID."

She replied with the pretense of misunderstanding in her tone: "No don't worry, you don't need to wear a mask, we just have yet to remove those signs from the COVID days but you don't need to wear a mask."

I told her that I know I don't need to wear one. But why is it still asking me to wear one then? I told her it's been years. She told me to calm down. I sat down.

While she wasn't looking, I started to peel the tape off one of the signs. I felt a slight tinge and stopped.

Why am I being like this? I asked myself. I went back to the reception and said very nicely:

"Listen, I know you work closely with Dr x and I know this is his establishment. I want you to tell him to get rid of those signs. You're the only one that can get through to him because you're clever and smart and he trusts you. If by the time I come back here to collect what I need to collect from the doctor, I'm not going to walk through the door. You're going to have to bring me the stuff to the door unless those signs are removed. I never want to see those signs again because they remind me of a weird time."

She understood. Her eyes looked into mine with a slight apprenhension. Who is this foreigner?

One week later, I walked up the stairs to the establishment.

I stood at the entrance and rang the bell. She came up to the door, opened and said come in. I said: are you sure? She said, yes, yes please.

When I walked in, a basking flow of golden light beamed down through the ceiling. As I looked around, I saw no signs asking me to put on a mask.

The sense of relief and ectasy I felt was so excruciatingly beautiful that I almost shed a tear.

After all these years alive, I finally understood: there is mercy in the world.