In mid-February I flew to LA for the Frieze art fair. The plane had changed and my seat reconfigured. Shortly after takeoff, the person in the row behind me started coughing, sneezing, and making all sorts of sounds in dealing with copious amounts of mucous. I wanted to scream, “Blow your nose for God’s sake!” For the entire flight I was in fear, anger, anxiety, and big time judgment, and this was before the COVID alerts! For all I know this person, who turned out to be a woman, had it. All I could do was move the small purifier around my neck closer to my face and envision myself in a protective bubble of white light. At that point I asked myself why it was incumbent on me, the non-sick one, to wear a mask. (Pre-COVID in Japan, the standard practice if you’re sick was to wear a mask.) Out of sheer kindness, I wish she had worn one. Obviously from now on when boarding a plane, I will be wearing a heavy-duty mask.

Make America great again with acts of kindness.